Emer Bermingham

THE Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour will come to a premature end next weekend with Maryville now playing host to the final round. The final which was scheduled for Coilog Equestrian on April 17th will not now take place there due to an ongoing dispute between Showjumping Ireland and Coilog Equestrian. A notice appeared on the Showjumpers Club website notifying riders of the change of date and venue of the final and the press were informed last Wednesday.

Chairman of the Showjumpers Club, Ronan Corrigan said: “We were informed by both parties that there was some issues that needed to be resolved. As of last week, these issues had not come any closer to a resolution and the Showjumpers Club had no option but to move the final to Maryville which was originally the penultimate round. We believe moving to Maryville is the simplest solution.”

The dispute arose last year over the allocation of Grand Prix and Premier Series dates with Coilog’s Chris Byrne questioning how the SJI allocate such dates to venues having missed out on fixtures that would have been traditionally granted to Coilog. At the time, Byrne called for more transparency on how the SJI allocates such events.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Chris Byrne said: “We are disappointed that Coilog will not host the final of the Connolly’s Redmills Spring Tour. We have hosted it for many years and it is a very popular event at Coilog. We are sorry that it may have caused some riders an inconvenience but unfortunately it is out of our control. Due to an ongoing dispute with Showjumping Ireland, we were informed last week that we would not be hosting the show.

“Showjumping Ireland are aware there are anomalies with our account. Following an initial audit on our side, the auditor found discrepancies going back to 2015 and this has prompted a look back at 2014. We have been advised that until a forensic audit of our commercial account with SJI is complete and particular issues resolved, a settlement is not possible. Coilog will continue to pay current authorisations and levies for our shows.

“Coilog has not been granted shows such as the Pony Premier, Pony spring tours, RDS qualifiers or any other shows we have applied for. Issues pertaining to last year’s Premier Series have not been addressed by SJI.

“We are a viable business and failing to authorise our shows could leave us in a very difficult situation. This is not a hobby for us, it is a business.Through our solicitor, we have communicated with Showjumping Ireland but they have not replied to the correspondence.”

A spokesperson for the SJI said: “Showjumping Ireland is not in a position to discuss a centre’s business and therefore have no comment to make surrounding this matter.”