It has happened again. Not just that road racing has claimed another life.
But it has claimed the life of another Dunlop.
The death of Robert during practice for the North West 200 is a bitter blow
in many, many ways.
An immense tragedy, of course, for his immediate family, now left to mourn
for the husband and father who will never walk in through the front door
again.
A grievous blow to the wider Dunlop circle, reeling from the second
motorcycle death in eight years.
And a blow, too, for Ballymoney, for north Antrim and indeed for Northern
Ireland, all of which have lost an iconic figure with the demise of the
'Mighty Atom'.
Indeed, the death of Robert Dunlop will be felt today anywhere that road
racing folk meet to chat and swap stories, in Ireland or anywhere in the
world.
A cloud of grief will hang over this year's North West 200. Robert Dunlop,
in recent years something of a poster boy for the event, is gone.
The organisers will feel the pain, and have endured the dilemma of whether
or not to cancel racing. They have made the right decision to continue.
It now beholds us all to find an appropriate way to celebrate the life of
this remarkable sportsman.
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