Top tourist attraction Tipperary Bike Park closes due to 'insurance crisis'

One of the country's top outdoor pursuits tourist attractions has had to close its doors because of what it describes as the "insurance crisis".

Bike Park Ireland in Ballingarry, North Tipperrary, posted on its Facebook page that it closed this weekend and will remain closed until the issue is sorted.

The company, which is run by Graham Kenny and his family at Fairymount, said it should have been celebrating its fifth birthday this weekend but instead had no option but to shut.

They said that all weekend bookings will be refunded.

"It comes with an enormous amount of disappointment and frustration that we must close all of our trails until sometime next week, effective immediately.

This is due to the “National Insurance Crisis” that is effecting most if not all activity based businesses this year. Unfortunately we are no exception," they said.

The owners said that they had been working day and night to find a solution and will continue to do so, but as it stands and through no fault of their own they were the latest victims of the "ridiculous insurance crisis".

The owners apologised for any inconvenience caused and hoped that people would have patience with them and continue to support them when they reopened, "which we hope will be very soon".

"All bookings made for this weekend will be fully refunded, and fingers crossed we are back to normal again next week," they said.

Bike Park Ireland draw thousands of visitors to North Tipperary annually, and has featured on national television.

Apart from being one of the Premier County's top attractions, it has earned a reputation nationally and internationally for the quality of its bike trails, which cover a total of 14 miles.