Urgent appeal to TDs: Vote AGAINST Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations

The government is poised to hand over another €84 million of taxpayers' money to the horse and greyhound racing gambling industries tomorrow, Tuesday 3rd December. Please respond to our urgent action alert and help stop this shameful funding.

Aware of the growing public opposition to the funding, the government is attempting to quickly get the latest grant through without allowing a debate on the issue.

Please join us in contacting Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and demanding that the issue is debated before a final vote is taken. Also, contact all TDs and urge them to vote AGAINST the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2019.

Since 2001, horse and greyhound racing has received more than ONE A QUARTER BILLION EUROS of public funds. Another €84 million was approved in Budget 2020 (but this can be stopped if enough TDs vote against it). Much of the money given to horse racing ends up as prize money in the pockets of wealthy horse owners and trainers, while the funding for greyhound racing has continued despite plummeting attendance at tracks due to shocking revelations about cruelty and killing. As revealed by the RTE Investigates documentary, 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year because they are not fast enough to win races.

It is time for the funding to finally be stopped and for the money to be redirected to the many deserving charities, health and homeless groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.

ACTION ALERT

Ahead of Tuesday, 3rd December when a vote is due to be taken on the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2019, please contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and demand an end to state funding to greyhound racing and horse racing. Tell them to redirect the funds to the many deserving charities crying out for funding.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: @LeoVaradkar
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Paschal Donohoe TD
Minister for Finance
Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie; minister@per.gov.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1 6045810
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/
Tweet to @Paschald

CONTACT ALL TDS AND URGE THEM TO VOTE AGAINST THE FUNDING

SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please write your own personal letter)

Dear Deputy,

I am writing to urge you to please VOTE AGAINST the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2019 on Tuesday 3rd December.

The regulations are seeking to channel another €84 million of taxpayers’ money into the horse and greyhound racing gambling industries, bringing to more than one and a quarter billion euros the amount handed over since 2001.

Much of the money given to horse racing ends up as prize money in the pockets of wealthy horse owners and trainers, while the funding for greyhound racing continues despite plummeting attendance at tracks due to shocking revelations about cruelty and killing.

If you saw the recent "RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives", you will understand why there should be absolutely no support given to this shameful industry. The programme revealed that 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough to win. We were shown horrifying scenes of greyhounds being delivered to knackeries to be shot in the head. One dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

The programme also highlighted the illegal practice in the greyhound industry of doping dogs to make them run faster or slower to influence the outcomes of races. Also shown were greyhounds with their ears chopped off or burned with acid (to remove identity tattoos before being dumped) and the hellholes that await Irish greyhounds exported to China and Pakistan.

The Irish public is shocked and disgusted at the revelations, which have sparked multiple, ongoing protests outside tracks and calls for a ban on greyhound racing.

A RED C opinion poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and Greyhound Action Ireland shows that two out of every three Irish adults agree that the government should stop funding greyhound racing [66% Agree, 16% Disagree, 18% Don't Know, Of those stating an opinion, 80% of these agree that the Irish Government should stop funding greyhound racing while 20% disagree.] An opinion poll conducted by TheJournal.ie also found that an 80 per cent majority want the government to permanently end the grants. Petitions urging the government to stop the funding have been signed over 300,000 times.

It is completely unacceptable that scarce public funds have been pumped into these gambling industries. It is time for this to be stopped and for the money to be redirected to the many deserving causes crying out for funding.

Please vote AGAINST the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2019.

Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely,

[Name/Address]

Email the letter to all Fine Gael TDs

maria.bailey@oireachtas.ie; sean.barrett@oireachtas.ie; pat.breen@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; corcorankennedy@eircom.net; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; michael.darcy@oireachtas.ie; Jim.Daly@oireachtas.ie; john.deasy@oireachtas.ie; Pat.Deering@oireachtas.ie; Regina.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; frances.fitzgerald@oir.ie; peterm.fitzpatrick@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; enda.kenny@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Kyne@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; Tony.McLoughlin@oireachtas.ie; Mary.MitchellOConnor@oireachtas.ie; Dara.Murphy@oireachtas.ie; Eoghan.Murphy@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; tom.neville@limerick.ie; michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie; kate.oconnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O'Donovan@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; noel@noelrock.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie

Email the letter to all Fianna Fáil TDs

billykelleher@eircom.net; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; Bobby.Aylward@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; johncurranff@gmail.com; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; john.brassil@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; mattie.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; coper@eircom.net; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; fiona@fiona.ie; declan.breathnach@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; kevin.okeeffe@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; escanlonmcc@eircom.net; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; james@jameslawless.ie; shane.cassells@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; margaret.murphyomahony@oireachtas.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eugene.murphy@oireachtas.ie; jack.chambers@outlook.com; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; lisa.chambers@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; pat.casey@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; frankorourke1@gmail.com

Email the letter to all Labour Party TDs

brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; joan.burton@oireachtas.ie; alan.kelly@oir.ie; jan.osullivan@oir.ie; willie.penrose@oireachtas.ie; brendan.ryan@oir.ie; sean.sherlock@oir.ie

Email the letter to all Sinn Fein TDs

gerry.adams@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; brian.stanley@oir.ie; caoimhghin.ocaolain@oireachtas.ie; senatordavidcullinane@gmail.com; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oireachtas.ie; donnchadhol@hotmail.com; eobroin@cllrs.sdublincoco.ie; cllrmunster@eircom.net; john.brady@oireachtas.ie; jonathan.obrien@oireachtas.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; martin.ferris@oireachtas.ie; martin.kenny@oireachtas.ie; marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie; maurice.quinlivan@oir.ie; pearse.doherty@oireachtas.ie; sean.crowe@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie

Visit the Oireachtas website for telephone numbers and other contact details for all TDs
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/32

Please sign and share petitions

 Stop supporting the cruel greyhound industry
https://www.change.org/p/stop-supporting-the-cruel-greyhound-industry

Ban Blood Sports in Ireland Now
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Ireland - Ban cruel hare coursing
www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing

GAA: Stop club fundraisers at greyhound tracks
https://www.change.org/p/gaa-stop-club-fundraisers-at-greyhound-tracks

Tell Gain Pet Nutrition to Stop Sponsoring Greyhound Racing
https://www.change.org/p/jimtracy-glanbia-ie-tell-gain-pet-nutrition-to-stop-sponsoring-greyhound-racing


Watch RTE Investigates: Greyhounds Running for Their Lives to witness the horrors of greyhound racing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM