Pro-bloodsports Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin has asked the Minister for Agriculture about “the justification for [an unspecified] decision and if this matter will be reviewed as a matter of urgency”.
The Kerry TD’s 30th July Dail Question - directed at new Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary - related to the “greyhound industry”.
In response, Minister Calleary stated: “The question raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Bord na gCon [Irish Greyhound Board] and therefore the question has been referred to the body for direct reply.”
The question may relate to a decision by the IGB to reduce monthly race meetings at Tralee greyhound track by nearly 20 per cent from 16 to 13 a move described by The Kerryman as “a major blow” to Kerry greyhound racing.
Tralee stadium is one of the worst in Ireland for dog injuries and deaths. 138 greyhounds suffered injuries there and 60 were killed by a track vet over the past six years alone, sickening Irish Greyhound Board statistics show.
At tracks around Ireland in the same period, 1,891 greyhounds suffered injuries and 625 were killed. These deaths are just the tip of the iceberg - thousands more greyhounds are mercilessly killed annually because they don’t make the grade.
As revealed in the award-winning "RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives" documentary last year, around 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough. It included shocking scenes of dogs being delivered to a knackery where they were shot in the head and dumped in a skip. One shot dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM
Brendan Griffin not only supports greyhound racing (he was part of a 14-man syndicate of Fine Gael TDs who owned the greyhound, Swift Starlet), he is in the minority who want cruel bloodsports to continue in Ireland.
In 2013 and 2016 he shamefully voted against a ban on hare coursing. He also voted against proposed amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill which sought to outlaw some of Ireland’s worst acts of cruelty to animals – foxhunting, digging-out, terrierwork, ferreting, badger culling, fur farming and the use of animals in circuses.
Last year, he was among the TDs pushing for a suspension of hare coursing to be lifted, despite the identification of the deadly and highly contagious RHD2 virus which threatens the future of the Irish Hare species. Coursing activities increase the risk of the disease spreading.
Since 2016, he has voted in favour of €244 million in state grants to horse and greyhound racing.
ACTION ALERT
Challenge Brendan Griffin TD on his disgraceful stance on animal cruelty issues.
Tel: 01- 618 4480 or 066-979 5666
Email: brendan.griffin@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brendan.griffin.5074
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BGriffinTD
Please urgently contact Green Party Ministers Malcolm Noonan and Catherine Martin and urge them to REFUSE a 2020-21 hare coursing licence.
Malcolm Noonan TD
Heritage Minister
Tel: (01) 6183148
Email: malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Catherine Martin TD
Culture and Heritage Minister
Tel: (01) 618 3018
Email: catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Catherinemartingreen/
The Irish Government has squandered over ONE AND A QUARTER BILLION EUROS of scarce public funds on horse and greyhound racing since 2001. It’s time for this to stop.
Contact Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and demand an end to state funding to horse racing and greyhound racing. Tell them to redirect the funds to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Paschal Donohoe TD
Minister for Finance
Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie; minister@per.gov.ie
Tel: 01 6045810
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/
Tweet to @Paschald
CONTACT TDS AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE THE FUNDING
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please write your own personal letter)
Dear Deputy,
I am writing to urge you to please oppose further funding to horse and greyhound racing.
The Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations channelled another €84 million of taxpayers’ money into the gambling activities in 2020, 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 "RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives" documentary, you will understand why there should be absolutely no support given to this shameful industry. The programme revealed that around 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 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] Petitions urging the government to stop the funding have attracted over 400,000 signatures.
It is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE that scarce public funds have been pumped into horse and greyhound racing. It is time for this to be stopped and for the money to be redirected to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.
Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Address]
Email the letter to all Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour Party TDs (who back the grants every year).
Fianna Fáil TDs
john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie
Fine Gael TDs
JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Eoghan.Murphy@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O'Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie
Labour Party TDs
sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie
Please sign and share the petitions
Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/p/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
Ireland - Ban cruel hare coursing
www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing
Irish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Racing
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euro-to-cruel-greyhound-racing
Brendan Griffin TD (Fine Gael, Kerry County) and animal cruelty issues
In June 2016, Brendan Griffin was among the 114 TDs who voted against Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan’s bill which sought to ban cruel hare coursing.
In March 2013, Brendan Griffin TD voted against amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill which sought to secure a ban on some of Ireland’s worst acts of cruelty to animals – foxhunting, hare coursing, digging out, terrierwork, ferreting, badger culling, fur farming and the use of animals in circuses.
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations which granted €80 million/€80 million/€84 million of taxpayers’ money to horse and greyhound racing.
According to a July 2012 Irish Examiner report, Brendan Griffin was part of a 14-man syndicate of Fine Gael TDs who “stumped up €250 each for a share in [greyhound] Swift Starlet after the 17-month-old bitch showed impressive form at recent trials.” The Irish Greyhound Board website shows that Swift Starlet was entered into 65 races between July 2012 and August 2014 and won 7. The total prize money is listed at €2,179. Her last race was at Mullingar greyhound track on 30th August 2014 when she came last.
Junior Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin said the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) has put a “compelling case”. “I want to see the department and the minister giving every consideration to the scientific facts being put forward by the ICC,” he told the Irish Independent. from Ministers clash over the ban on hare coursing, Irish Independent, October 8 2019.