SIXTY-year-old Mick Dempsey is looking forward to the opening of the season at Portmarnock Raceway in whatever form the Covid regulations will allow. This year will be Mick’s 40th year announcing ‘they’re off and pacing’ at the venue.

For many patrons Dempsey is as much part of the fabric of the place as ‘Peter’s Paddock’ (it was he who coined the phrase), the track bar, the railway along the back straight and the few bits of mustard paint which remain on the older buildings.