John Mulholland 1964 – 2019
John Mulholland will forever be known for his ties with the motor trade and how that love of cars reached far beyond the four walls of his showroom in Randalstown. He was one of the very few businessmen who competed in the cars that he sold to the public and took immense pride doing so.
One of John’s life goals was to compete in the Circuit of Ireland Rally, which he would go on to fulfil. Growing up as a boy in the late 1970s and early
1980s he would hop on the bus and head for Ormeau Park in Belfast to cheer on the Hannu Mikkolas and the Ari Vatanens of the world as they negotiated the stage that weaved its way through there. John had been truly bitten by the rally bug.
Ford models would be a recurring theme in John’s time as a driver. He started his career with good friend Eamon Gorman in a Ford Escort Mk2 that he called ‘Betsy’ on the then Hills of Donegal Rally.
Like any Irish driver, Donegal and Killarney were highly regarded by
John and he got to sample these in an ex-sebastien Ogier Skoda Fabia
S2000 and in more recent times a Skoda Motorsport Fabia R5.
However, the achievement John would recount most often was the 1994 Ulster Rally. At the wheel of a 1300cc Vauxhall Nova, he finished 13th overall alongside Gorman and first in class. The following year John went on to win the Irish Border Championship in the same supermini car.
Swapping tenths of a second with others was only a part of the attraction, however. For John, it was the sense of belonging the sport gave him, the atmosphere, the banter and the people. He was also someone who would lend a hand or offer advice – something he found himself doing more of in the past few years after his only son, Johnnie, followed in his footsteps and started competing.
Rallying was good to him and John repaid the favour. In recent years he came on board as the title sponsor of the Ulster Rally, an event he believed was always at its best in County Antrim. Poor health prevented John from competing but his love never diminished. At this year’s Easter Stages Rally he was there, on the ditch side, watching the next generation of young drivers and at the centre of the laughter. John is survived by his wife Alicia, and children Alicia, Shona, Johnnie and Anna.