Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My comment is a little left of field. The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby was on at the weekend. The number of foreign runners was a little disappointing. We want our derby to be one of the jewels in the crown, almost like the Triple Crown in the United States. I wonder could we make a reference to international fixtures in the Bill. The French racing authorities moved their derby, which now clashes with our derby, making a haems of it, and caused the lack of foreign runners. We want our derby to be the centre stage of horse racing in Europe.