Early this afternoon I sent an email to Minister for Sport Thomas Byrne TD looking for his support in reversing the decision to remove the National Horse Sport arena. I have attempted to highlight the key points made in your comments and feed back.
Here is a copy of the letter as sent -
"Dear Minister Byrne,
I would like to bring your attention to a proposal to remove equesteian facilities in the form of the National Horse Sport arena from Sport Campus Ireland which has been extremely poorly received by the equestrian community.
The Equestrian industry contributes over €1bn annually to the Irish economy (Horse Sport Ireland, Budget Submission, 2023) and provides over 14,000 full time equivalent jobs (Teagasc, Unlocking the Potential of the Horse Sport Industry, 2018).
Information on the proposed removal of the National Horse Sport arena were published in The Irish Field on 5th May. Please follow this link to view the article:
https://www.theirishfield.ie/news-national-horse-sport-arena-to-be-removed-under-plan-763675
From available public information, what can be gleaned at present is that the National Sport Horse arena at Sport Ireland Campus in Abbotstown is to be removed and replaced with a vegitable garden.
Following extensive disquiet on social media about this proposal, yesterday I published a petition in support of the retention of this much valued facility. Within a little over a day of publication, the petition has been signed over 1,500 times by people involved in all aspects of equestrian life. You can view the petition by following this link. I would further urge you to read the comments.
There has been a massive outpouring of support, anger, frustration and disbelief at the prospect of the removal of this important facility. What is abundantly clear is people want the facility retained.
The key points of feedback can be summaried as follows:
1) Sports Campus Ireland is a sports campus and as such it is astounding that a sports facility would be removed, not relocated or replaced on site, and replaced by a non-sporting amenity especially given the relative importance of this facility to the community it serves.
2) Removing equestrian sport from Sports Campus Ireland sends the wrong message about the esteem in which equestrian sport is held by Sport Ireland, the Minister and Government.
3) The horse sport industry is estimated to be worth circa €1bn per annum to the Irish economy. This places horse sport activity as one of the singularly highest contributors to economic activity of any sport. By way of comparison football as one of the largest sports by participation in the country makes a direct economic contribution of €355m annually (figures contained within a 2021 FAI UEFA SROI report). By weight of economic value alone, equestrian facilities should warrant inclusion at Sports Campus Ireland.
4) The National Horse Sport arena is an important facility for the provision of training particularly within the Leinster region where facilities are at a premium. It has been extensively used across all disciplines and particularly by minority disciplines such as para dressage. It is however also extensively used by showjumpers at all levels from professional to grass roots. It is regurarly used for showjumping, eventing and dressage training clinics and has been used for assessment days by NGB's. On top of this the facility is often used by AIRC (riding club) clubs to hold shows and has been routinely used across several disciplines as a show venue.
5) The venue is accessable to all and hence provides access to equestrian sport for all at a reasonable cost.
6) Equestrian sport is one of the few sports in which Ireland routinely competes and succeeds at the very highest level including at the Olympics. Currently 12 of the worlds top 100 showjumpers are Irish. In the last Olympic cycle we qualified across the three equestrian disciplines of Showjumping, Eventing and Dressage. Showjumping returned an Olympic medal in London 2012. Alongside boxing and latterly sailing, showjumping is one of our strongest Olympic sports. More broadly on the international stage, Irish riders are regurarly on the podium in top level sport. This must be recognised in the provision of facilities at Sport Campus Ireland.
Here are sample comments made in response to the petition:
"It's is a beautiful arena and I have many fond memories of the para dressage Ireland training camps there, many good friends have been made" - Fiona Morrow
"No alternative has been put in place. This is a sports campus for all sports. Equestrian is a huge part of Irish sport. We have enough walled gardens for people to wander around. A disgrace. Reverse this decision.!" - Grace McEntaggart
"This is the most fabulous venue in the region for training and competing and it would be a devastating blow to the sport to have it removed." - Emma McQuaile
"We need to have facilities for all types of sports available at the Abbotstown centre- there are already so many gardens for people to visit such as Malahide Castle, Newbridge, Ardgillan, Botanic Gardens, Phoenix Park, Merrion square, Farmleigh. Equestrians have fewer and fewer options as roads become busier and beaches etc become inaccessible. Please don't take this retrograde step!" - Rachel McGloughlin
"it's ridiculous" - Nadia Ironia
The equestrian community would greatly appreciate your intervention in having this misstep at Sports Campus Ireland reconsidered. We look forward to your response.
Regards,
Donal Milmo-Penny
donal@milmopenny.com
086 2537879"