CURRAGH Racecourse boss Brian Kavanagh and local trainer John O’Donoghue have expressed relief at the news that the travelling community members who had based themselves on the Curragh for the past week have moved on.

Over 25 caravans pitched up right beside the Little Curragh gallop at Foxcovert last Wednesday week. As a result that seven-furlong woodchip gallop had to be closed for safety reasons as the travellers had dogs running loose.

The land is owned by the Department of Defence which leases the right to train horses there to the Curragh Racecourse and Training Grounds.

The Curragh petitioned the Department to intervene and it is understood that bailiffs served the trespassers with quit notices but, ultimately, the travellers made their own decision to move on.

Kavanagh said: “These travellers have been a regular feature over the last couple of years on he open part of the Curragh and in various areas. This time they parked very, very close to an all-weather gallop and they rendered it unsafe to use so we had to close it for a week.

“Now, there’s plenty of other gallops for the trainers to use but they’re harder to access for trainers in that vicinity. Trainers such as Ken Condon, Willie McCreery, John Feane, Conor O’Dwyer, Brendan Duke, Martin Brassil and John O’Donoghue would be among those most affected.

“The gallop is right beside John Oxx’s old yard and Cill Dara Golf Club.

“We weren’t happy to be closing gallops but obviously we had to take health and safety into account. We engaged with the Department of Defence and they were going through the legal process to move these people on when, as I understand it, they moved out of their own volition.”

Loca TD Sean Ó Fearghaill has reported that it cost over €180,000 to clean up following a previous incursion and it is understood that the area is again in need of attention now.

Three months

John O’Donoghue, who is based in the old Oxx yard at Currabeg, said: “I don’t mind them being there for a week but last year they stayed for three months and it was a disaster for us.

“One of the reasons I chose to move into this yard was because of its proximity to the Little Curragh gallop and my training system is largely based around that.

“I’m told this has been going on for 30 years on the Curragh. I have only been here for three years and last year was the first time it affected me.

“Everyone agreed that the gallop had to be closed. It was very unsafe. You can walk horses past them but you couldn’t gallop.”

Looking ahead, Kavanagh said: “There has to be a long-term solution found to this problem. We’ve got a good relationship with the Department of Defence as our landlord, and we’re working positively with them to try and address it.

“There needs to be both a legal and a longer term solution to this, rather than everyone running around in a panic when this occurs.

“There was a report published by the Government last November about the long term future of the Curragh Plains. It’s much bigger than just the racecourse which is only 15% of the Curragh. There probably needs to be a new structure around the management of the Curragh Plains itself.”