James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Healy-Rae beat me to the chase. Another Tom O'Connor, my grandfather, was heavily involved in setting up the dog track in Youghal. We had greyhounds and two generations of our family were involved in it. It is a huge part of the fabric of where I am from, Youghal, in County Cork.

Something was said in Chamber that was not true, that attendance was recorded in Youghal greyhound track of three people. The reason that figure is out there is because three people were charged. There is free entry at the gate. Every night the races are on in Youghal, there are, at a minimum, close to 100 in attendance. Recently, there was a celebration night during which nearly 2,000 people visited the track. It is appalling that Deputies can come into and misinform this House about what goes on in our local greyhound track, which has survived many attempts to be shut down by the IGB. I condemn it, because it is not fair. It is a grassroots organisation run by volunteers who put everything into it.

Families and the people involved love and care for their animals. I grew up on a farm and I work with animals every day when I am at home. The idea put out today around animal cruelty is not an accurate reflection of the people involved in greyhounds or, particularly, in the sport of horse racing.

Horse racing is not a sport of the elite. It is one of the few sports in this country that bring people from all social strata together. I think of the success of people like Nina Carberry and Rachael Blackmore, enormous performers for women in sport in what they have achieved, as well as Davy Russell and other great names in this sport. They have done a lot for sport in this country. Horse racing provides tens of thousands of jobs for our economy and brings billions into the country. For example, at the Dublin Racing Festival, 40% of attendees - in the ten

s of thousands - came from the United Kingdom alone. It brings millions for each major racing festival. There needs to be an injection of reality about what this funding does. It has a huge positive impact on our economy which is returned in very high multiples. There needs to be some dose of honesty about what is being said in this Chamber today.

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