Tipperary team competes in Red Bull Soapbox Race in Belfast
The Maher family from Two Mile Borris entered the 2026 Belfast edition of the race
The Maher family from Two Mile Borris recently competed in the illustrious Red Bull Soapbox Race held in Belfast on Sunday, May 17.
‘Maher Madness’ was one of the 40 entries selected to take part in the competition out of the roughly 300 applications that were sent to Red Bull.
The idea originated between Michael, one of the members of the team, and his uncle Seamus, who had discussed in years past that they would like to enter the race, which last came to Ireland in 2016, when it ran down St Patrick’s Hill in Cork.
However, in between the two Irish runnings of the race, Seamus passed away.
When the Belfast running was announced by Red Bull, Michael jumped at the opportunity and began preparing a presentation for an entry, along with his brother Conor, and Seamus’ two sons Brian and James.
The team’s theme revolved around an old Massey Ferguson digger that Seamus owned, as a tribute to where the original idea spawned from.
When the team had received confirmation of their acceptance to the race, they began work on the build of the car, with six weeks to finalise the build.
The car was constructed entirely of recycled materials, with the base of the car coming from an old go-kart the family owned as children, and the upper cage coming from an old water tank, with the only new pieces bought for the build being the yellow paint for the exterior of the digger and the Massey Ferguson stickers to complete the look of the original machine.
Once the build had been completed, a team of Red Bull employees drove to Two Mile Borris to inspect the build, which it duly passed.
However, disaster would strike the night before the team was due to travel to Belfast, as during a final test of the car, the rear axle broke, just before the they were getting ready to load it into the van, sending the team into a panic.
Hasty phone calls ensued, and eventually the team was able to find a local welder, who would assist them in repairing the damage the morning after, before they hit the road towards Stormont.
After arriving in Belfast and checking in to the competition, the team got the chance to mingle with other team members, rubbing shoulders with social media influencers and fellow competitors Jim Flano and James Doyle, among others, before the Red Bull party that would follow that night.
The day of the race came on Sunday, where the team got to showcase their pre-race performance in front of a 35,000-strong crowd of fans.
The team’s performance revolved around a contractor seeking planning permission, which is swiftly rejected, before waving a suitcase full of cash in the air, which sees the rejection board abruptly changed to a sign of approval.
The judges awarded them a score of 35 points for creativity, before awarding them top marks for their performance, with all five judges giving ten points.
With the performance concluded, the team set off down the hill, where they were met by a crash at the first jump.
A quick steadying saw driver Brian back on his way down the hill, where they reached the end, with a time of 2:12.7, with the kart having suffered further damage across the bumps on the way down the Stormont hill.
A spokesperson for the team spoke to the Tipperary Star following the race, saying he was blown away by the sheer number of people who had shown up on the day to watch the race.
He went on to say that the race is no fun if you get down the hill in one piece, and that having a crash before getting to the end only adds to the full soapbox experience.
Only the top three finishers were named on the day, with Maher Madness’ crash ultimately costing them too much time to be classified on the podium.
The spokesperson for the team however said that having the whole family in Belfast to watch them take part and to do the race in honour of Seamus was all they could have asked for, and that they left having done exactly what they had set out to do.