The taxpayer-funded Irish Greyhound Board is set to hand over €1,000,000 to Kilkenny greyhound stadium, it has emerged.

The Kilkenny People newspaper has reported that the million euro grant "was signed off on this week by the board and outgoing chairman of Bord na gCon, Phil Meaney from Carlow".

The cash injection into the privately-operated stadium is part of a €6 million track renovation plan announced by the IGB. It has money to spend after receiving another €16 million of taxpayers' money this year from the government as well as a payment of €23 million from the Department of Education for closed-down Harold's Cross stadium - a track which was believed to be worth less than half of that.

In the IGB's 5-year Strategic Plan, published earlier this year, it was revealed that in addition to the €1 million for Kilkenny track, Shelbourne Park is due to receive €3 million, Cork's Curraheen Park will get €200,000, while €2,800,000 is earmarked for "other stadium renovations including Kilkenny". Following the €1 million payment this year, the IGB plans to give these "other tracks" €500,000 in 2019, €450,000 in 2020, €600,000 in 2021 and a quarter of a million euros in 2022.

These are just the latest grants doled out by the Irish Greyhound Board to tracks. As highlighted by ICABS last month, the IGB's annual report revealed that the Board is handing over substantial sums of money to private tracks. The report shows that "grant assistance to private stadia" increased from €311,222 in 2016 to €340,758 last year.

Money is being ploughed into stadiums despite figures showing that the Irish public is increasingly rejecting greyhound racing.

Track attendance fell in 2017 by 122,368 to 514,546 - the lowest level since records began - and the average attendance at race meetings dropped from 380 to 329. That's despite the marketing and promotion budget being increased to €1.7 million. Attendance has been steadily falling over the past decade. Since 2007, when attendance was 1.12 million, the number of people going to greyhound races has slumped by 54 per cent.

This is almost certainly linked to a growing awareness among the Irish public about the doping of dogs (to affect the outcomes of races) and the injury and death of greyhounds. In the past three and a half years alone, 1,369 greyhounds suffered injuries at tracks around the country and 438 were killed by track vets. This includes 36 greyhounds injured and 13 killed at Kilkenny track.

With attendance falling, all of the IGB-operated tracks suffered losses in 2017, while its food and drinks subsidiary company (Abargrove Ltd) made a loss of nearly half a million euros. The next largest loss (€356,303) was seen at Limerick track - the headquarters of the IGB. Figures are not available for the seven privately-owned tracks but it is believed that they too are making losses. For example, Longford greyhound track (owned by a Scottish businessman) came close to closure last year, saved only after a fundraising drive and continued annual cash injections of over €40,000 from the Greyhound Board. In June, Lifford track in Donegal was put on the market for the second time in four years. A drop in attendance was noted by one visitor, who commented on the Lifford Greyhound Stadium Facebook page: "I absolutely love this greyhound stadium but can't believe how quiet it has gotten over the years..."

How deplorable that with so many worthy causes crying out for funding around Ireland, the government sees fit to continue squandering public funds on a cruel and crumbling gambling industry.

ACTION ALERT

Don't attend greyhound races or fundraisers/hen parties/office parties held at greyhound tracks.

The greyhound industry has received nearly a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money since 2001 (including €16 million for 2018). Urge Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to stop the funding and instead direct the money to charities, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, health groups and other deserving causes. Email "Stop funding the cruel greyhound industry" to taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie, paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie, minister@per.gov.ie

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Department of the Taoiseach,
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: @campaignforLeo
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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

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