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These 3 TDs want the government to plough €1 million into an unpopular greyhound track where average attendance last year was a mere 100.
Pro-bloodsports TDs Niall Collins, John McGuinness and Mattie McGrath have been pushing for the massive refurbishment grant to PRIVATELY-OPERATED Kilkenny greyhound track despite it being obvious from attendance stats that it is a very unpopular venue at a time when the public has been increasingly rejecting dog-killing greyhound racing.
In a Dail Question in March, pro-coursing Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins – who holds the position of “Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science” – asked Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue about “the status of funding” for the project.
The same month, Carlow-Kilkenny Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness asked the Agriculture Minister “the current status of the grant already sanctioned to refurbish the Kilkenny dog track arising from the sale of Harold’s Cross stadium and the timeline for the payment of the grant.”
In April, Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath (Independent – formerly Fianna Fail) asked the Minister “when a full grant (details supplied) that was approved by a State body will be paid; when his Department will sanction this grant payment and the reason for the delay”.
Minister Charlie McConalogue told them that Greyhound Racing Ireland “made an application to my Department for approval of a grant of €1 million towards the redevelopment of Kilkenny Greyhound Stadium [and] this application is currently being considered by officials from my Department.” https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2022-03-01/865/#pq_865
In correspondence to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports (8 September 2022), a spokesperson for the Minister repeated that “RCÉ [Greyhound Racing Ireland] sought approval from this Department for payment of a grant of €1m towards the redevelopment of Kilkenny Greyhound Stadium. This application is currently being considered by officials from this Department in the context of RCÉ's operations as a whole.”
At a meeting of the Irish Greyhound Breeders Federation on 9th August 2022, the issue was discussed and attendees were told that “funding for improvements to Kilkenny track are in place and awaiting signing off on by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the paperwork had been on their desk awaiting signing for a substantial time”.
This funding must NOT be granted to Kilkenny Stadium.
In an appeal to Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports stressed that €1 million “should not be squandered on a very unpopular venue which is part of a dying ‘industry’”.
We pointed to statistics released by Greyhound Racing Ireland which leave no doubt that the public is largely staying away from the track.
The GRI statistics show that at Kilkenny track last year, the average attendance per race meeting was just 100 and average attendance for the first 5 months of 2022 was a mere 128.
It is understood that the so-called attendance at tracks, including Kilkenny track, was mostly made up of greyhound owners and trainers and NOT paying members of the public.
It was revealed in June that Greyhound Racing Ireland has been substantially inflating its “attendance” figures by including greyhound owners, greyhound trainers, bookies and those in possession of complimentary passes. The wholly misleading attendance figures have been presented by GRI to convey a level of public support for greyhound racing which does not exist.
“There can be absolutely no justification for squandering one million euros on a venue which attracts 100 to 128 per race meeting,” we told Minister McConalogue. “With so many deserving sports/community/health/environmental /animal welfare groups in Kilkenny, and indeed in your own constituency, crying out for funds, it would not be received well by the public if this grant is approved by you and your department.”
We also again urged him to intervene to stop Greyhound Racing Ireland wasting €2.3 million on work at Shelbourne Park. We told him that last year at the 4,200 capacity stadium, the average attendance per race meeting was 198 and the average attendance for the first five months of 2022 was 482.
A RED C opinion poll has shown that a two-thirds majority want the government to stop all the funding that is propping up greyhound racing, with just 16 per cent wanting the funding to continue. Since 2001, Greyhound Racing Ireland has received over €309 million of public funds.
ACTION ALERT
Join us in urging Minister Charlie McConalogue to say NO to a million euro grant to Kilkenny greyhound track and end the government’s funding of greyhound racing.
Charlie McConalogue
Minister for Agriculture
Tel: 01 618 3199 or 01 607 2000
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie; charlie.mcconalogue@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CharlieMcConalogue
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@McConalogue
If you are in the Limerick, Carlow-Kilkenny or Tipperary constituencies, please contact Deputies Niall Collins, John McGuinness and Mattie McGrath and tell them to stop pushing for a million euro grant to Kilkenny track.
Niall Collins TD / Limerick County
Tel: (061) 300 149 or (01) 618 3577
Email: niall.collins@oireachtas.ie
John McGuinness TD / Carlow-Kilkenny
Tel: (056) 777 0672 or (01) 618 3137
Email: john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie
Mattie McGrath TD / Tipperary
Tel: (052) 612 9155 or (01) 618 4062
Email: mattie.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie
Don’t go greyhound racing or attend events at greyhound tracks.
Urge the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to stop the funding and back a ban on greyhound racing
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/
Watch RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” documentary
https://youtu.be/ZYTb2qBjlMM