Agriculture Minister Michael Creed is pushing for millions more of Irish taxpayers' money to be handed over to horse and greyhound racing, the Irish Examiner has reported. A massive €80 million of public funds has already been paid out to horse and greyhound racing for 2017 but Minister Creed appears determined to divert even more scarce funds to the gambling industries. The Irish Examiner has revealed that "at the Horse Racing Ireland Awards in December, Minister Michael Creed said he would be looking for an increase of 9% in funding [that's €7,200,000] and, being tied to horse racing, greyhound racing would gain to a similar percentage." The move is likely to further infuriate under-funded groups around the country, including sporting bodies whose government support was slashed by 30 per cent last year. The €80 million allocated by Finance Minister Michael Noonan to the horse and greyhound racing industries for 2017 was €28 million more than the entire allocation for Ireland's sports sector. Horse racing was granted €64 million in the budget (€4.8 million more than the previous year) while the dying greyhound industry got an additional €1.2 million to bring its funding up to €16 million. In stark contrast, the money allocated to Ireland's sports sees a huge drop from €73.5 million to €51.91 million. The Irish Examiner report, headed "Urgent need for someone to stand up for greyhound racing as a whole" acknowledges the growing opposition to greyhound racing, saying "Even those with no specific agenda against the sport are questioning the levels of government funding which it enjoys." Also highlighted was the loss last year of "a number of sponsors, who had been valued, long-term supporters of greyhound racing". "2016 was not a year which will be fondly remembered within the greyhound industry, and there has to be a fear that this year will be the same, or worse," the Irish Examiner report added - http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/racing/urgent-need-for-someone-to-stand-up-for-greyhound-racing-as-a-whole-437737.html