A 14-YEAR quest by Horse Sport Ireland to make headway on a Centre of Excellence – including approaching Punchestown – was outlined over the airwaves by Interim CEO Joe Reynolds amid rumbling disquiet over the plans to relocate to nearby Greenogue in Rathcoole.

Speaking on Thursday’s Kildare Today show, hosted by Clem Ryan, listeners heard that engagement with up to seven organisations and facilities around Kildare was undertaken in the search for a new home for Horse Sport Ireland.

“I approached Punchestown in 2019 and did not get any joy there. I was saying we would like to locate to there but it never progressed. It just fizzled out,” stated Joe Reynolds.

On Wednesday’s show, listeners had heard from Punchestown’s David Mongey who said Punchestown was offered as a free option to Horse Sport Ireland.

Asked to spell out the history behind the proposed move, Reynolds said: “Originally I approached them (Punchestown) in 2019, time elapsed. We went on with our plans and developments. They came back on November 18th 2020. One of my associates and I had a meeting in Punchestown and gave them the bones of the deal we had negotiated with Greenogue and could they match that or talk to us on those terms? We asked them for their views.

“On December 8th, Punchestown wrote to us and could not offer us anything other than go to Government jointly and make an appeal for funding,’’ said Reynolds.

HSI was asking Punchestown, and the others it approached, to pay to build what they wanted and Horse Sport Ireland would rent it back from them on a long-term lease. “I am not anti-Punchestown – I can see Punchestown from my garden. I could walk to work – the Kildare Hunt come over my farm,” pointed out Reynolds.

Asked by Clem Ryan who is paying for what HSI wants at Greenogue, Reynolds replied that the “person who owns it is prepared to develop it on the lines that we want and then lease it to us for an extended period.” Greenogue Equestrian is owned by developer Con McCarthy who has largely developed Greenogue Industrial Estate at Rathcoole.

Reynolds said that HSI also had “gone quite a long way with some others but they gracefully declined and said it was not for them.”

With 24 affiliates under the HSI umbrella, the interim CEO also flagged up that the Centre of Excellence idea had been “on the agenda for HSI for 14 years’’.

Confirming that HSI has no plans or intentions of running competition-style events at Greenogue, Reynolds said it is envisaged as a training centre for their high performance riders. “It is a high performance training centre, we are setting up to train our athletes.”

Abbotstown not a runner

Confirming HSI have engaged with South Dublin County Council and that their proposals fit well into that local authority’s County Development Plans, Reynolds also outlined that “extensive discussions” with Abbotstown had come to nothing as “they were not in favour of the type of development we wanted. We incorporate breeding as well as high performance training, that is not consistent with Abbotstown,” he added.