ONE of the most familiar faces on Irish racecourses will be missing when racing gets underway again next week. If you are an owner or a professional, and have used the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) turnstile at any of the Irish racecourses, you have encountered Robert Costello.

Last weekend, in a post on Facebook, he announced that he was finally stepping away from the role he has had for over a quarter of a century. Now he will spend time with his family and helping his daughter Sinéad in her battle with Multiple Sclerosis. A few years ago Sinéad was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease, affecting about five in every 100 cases, known as Progressive-Relapsing MS. It is characterised by a steadily worsening state of the disease, with acute relapses and no remissions.

Speaking this week following the news of Robert’s departure, the AIR chief executive Paddy Walsh paid tribute to Robert and his outstanding contribution, which was recognised by the owners’ group, AIRO, at their awards night in 2015. Paddy said: “Robert worked for AIR from October 1994 until his 66th birthday in May 2012. Since then he has worked as an independent contractor and was recruited by a large number of our racecourses to administer and operate the AIR Access System at their racecourses.

“As a result of his role he would be one of the more familiar faces on Irish racecourses to all those participants in the sport, owners, trainers, jockeys, stable staff, racing officials and more, who regularly use the AIR Access System to gain complimentary access to the racecourse.

“While we at AIR fully understand and respect his decision to call it a day, we are all going to miss his welcoming smile when we arrive at the racecourse. We would like to thank him most sincerely for his contribution both during his time with AIR, and since he started working independently for selected racecourses. We trust that he will enjoy his retirement with Bibi and the family and that we will see him occasionally enjoying a race meeting from the other side of the counter.”

Robert’s announcement on Facebook said: “To all of you who will be asking when racing returns on June 8th, ‘where’s Robert?’, I have decided to call it a day. I am now retired. I have met so many incredible people over the years and have started so many wonderful friendships in that time.

“Thank you all for your support and patience, it was always appreciated. A special word of thanks to all those people I have worked with along the way; thanks for your encouragement and loyalty.

“Just a short time ago we were trying to raise funds for our daughter Sinéad who has MS. We were raising the funds to send her to Mexico for treatment. You were magnificent and so generous. We raised in excess of €60,000. The generosity of the racing fraternity is beyond comprehension. Thank you so much.

“I will miss you all, but when I look back I had a great innings. So the time has come to say goodbye and, again, thank you for everything. Robert.”

As a way of saying thank you to Robert for his years of courtesy and service to Irish racing, you might consider making a donation to the appeal for Sinéad. You can do so by searching the gofundme.com website for ‘Sinead Costello’.