The Minister for Health is being urged to act to prevent a greyhound racing meeting from going ahead in Dublin this evening (Saturday, 19 September).

In an appeal to Minister Stephen Donnelly, it was pointed out that the holding of the Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby at Shelbourne Park will apparently be in breach of the newly declared Level 3 of the “Living with COVID-19” plan for County Dublin.

The Minister was told that greyhound racing at Shelbourne Park will breach the “Sports” section of the Level 3 COVID-19 plan which states: "No matches or events to take place. Exemption: professional/elite/inter-county/club championship/horse-racing can take place behind closed doors". Greyhound racing is not included in the exemptions.

It will also breach the domestic travel restrictions which state: "Do not come to County Dublin except for education, work and other essential purposes." Greyhound racing does not qualify as education, work or in any way essential.

We understand that none of the greyhound owners/trainers linked to the derby final are based in Dublin and that the dogs being brought to Shelbourne Park are all from outside the County.

“This event must not be allowed to proceed and we call on you to take immediate steps to stop it in the interests of public safety and adhering to the Level 3 COVID-19 plan,” we stated in our appeal to Minister Donnelly.

He is being urged NOT to grant any exemption for greyhound racing and was reminded of numerous and repeated breaches of the government's COVID-19 guidelines at tracks around the country, including at Shelbourne Park.

Video footage brought to his attention last month showed multiple breaches of social distancing guidelines at greyhound tracks. The 15th August footage included shocking scenes from Shelbourne Park stadium showing groups of up to 7 people rushing in together to retrieve greyhounds after races. The social distancing breaches were filmed just hours AFTER the Department of Health publicly announced another 200 cases of coronavirus infections and following false claims by the Irish Greyhound Board that “social distancing [would] be fully observed at all times” - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J89_k0Pwk3U

ACTION ALERT

Urge Minister Donnelly to act to stop the Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby at Shelbourne Park this evening.

Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly
Tel: (01) 201 7300 or (01) 618 3041
Email: ministersoffice@health.gov.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie; hselive@hse.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DonnellyforWicklow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DonnellyStephen

Find out more about Coronavirus (COVID-19) and how you can protect yourself and your family https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/