Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

General Scheme of Horse Racing Ireland (Amendment) Bill 2014: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

2:50 pm

Photo of Mary Ann O'BrienMary Ann O'Brien (Independent)
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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.