AS the dust settles on the 2019 Dublin Horse Show, our attention immediately turns to next week’s FEI European Championships in Rotterdam, where Ireland fields teams in jumping, dressage and para dressage.

Looking at Rodrigo Pessoa’s squad for next week’s championship, one must be confident that the agony of missing Olympic qualification will be put to bed once and for all. So far, 14 nations have booked their ticket to Tokyo.

They are Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Japan, USA, Australia, Ukraine, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand and China.

There are three more slots available next week, so Ireland must finish top three of the teams not yet qualified. They are up against some powerhouses who have not yet obtained their gold ticket, including last week’s Aga Khan winners Britain, Italy, Belgium and France, among others.

Geographical disadvantage

What is interesting about the group already qualified is that some of those teams – Ukraine, New Zealand, China, for example – would undoubtedly finish below Ireland at an Olympic Games.

However, because of regional grouping, Ukraine, for instance, qualified for Tokyo on a day when they completed with 41 faults.

Ireland are in Group A (North Western Europe) – one of the toughest groups - and go forward to the Europeans along with the Group B (South Western Europe) and a total of 23 nations. 41 faults in this division would see a team among the very bottom ranked.

Ireland don’t have to finish on the podium, once they're among the top three not qualified, but Cian O’Connor, Darragh Kenny, Shane Sweetnam, Peter Moloney and Paul O’Shea certainly won’t be thinking that way. They will want to be on that podium, defending their gold medal.

In dressage, the all-female team of Judy Reynolds, Heike Holstein, Anna Merveldt and Kate Dwyer will be aiming to qualify an Irish team for the first time ever. As in jumping, there are three Olympic places up for grabs in Rotterdam.

The brilliant Dara Kearney named her para dressage team as Tamsin Addison, Michael Murphy and the hugely experienced Rosemary Gaffney. Best of luck to all athletes. Follow The Irish Field online, in print and on social media next week for live updates from the championships.