INTENSIVE lobbying at top political level is ongoing in a bid to secure the €700m Irish Sport Horse industry a greater share of Budget support.

Yesterday at Kilbeggan races, Robert Fagan of Mullingar Equestrian Centre and Equestrian Sports consultant Pat McCartan, who is working with Ireland’s major equestrian competition centres, were part of an official group meeting Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. The meeting with the Taoiseach came hot on the heels of last week’s whistlestop tour of Mullingar EC by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD (FG).

Robert Fagan told The Irish Field: “We are looking forward to meeting the Taoiseach and outlining to him the importance of our entire industry and the contribution that it makes on so many levels. It was great to host Minister Creed at Mullingar last week and he saw the scale of the investment involved in a major equestrian centre firsthand for himself.

“We highlighted to him the fantastic European Championships medal wins of our pony riders and of the senior Irish show jumping winning team gold at the European Championships last weekend in Sweden. These are huge achievements, showing we are the best in the world at what we do.

“However, currently the future for our talented pony riders lies abroad. We want to change that. Much more needs to be done to support our industry at home and build a proper circuit which can compete with what Europe has to offer. The major equestrian competition centres need support to improve the facilities and be able to compete with Europe.

“Minister Creed was very positive. I explained that Horse Sport Ireland is totally under funded for the scale of an industry like ours. Both HSI and the SJI must work with the major equestrian centres’ group more. For example, they don’t consult with us when making rules and regulations. They have not taken us seriously enough in the past. We are lobbying Minister Creed so that there would be one seat on the HSI board representing the equestrian centres’ group,” said Fagan who added that Minister Creed spent some 90 minutes at the centre.

“Minister Creed said that the Indecon Report is there now to be implemented and he did warn that he had no magic wand but said the possibilities are infinite. I outlined our plans here at Mullingar for the next five years and, like the other major competition venues, we hope to have some government support. If there is a pathway to greater investment in the major centres, we can develop a real circuit here for the industry to benefit from and in turn, bring in the top sponsors.

“Horse Racing Ireland has a €100m capital development fund that every racecourse in Ireland can apply to for funding to help with facilities. We have nothing like that in the sport horse industry. Commercial centres cannot tap into National Lottery funding either.

“Other problems we have include 9% VAT being charged on riding lessons, for example, that applies to every riding school, big or small, in the country. Yet, the benefits of providing riding lessons are so great to young people that it’s almost a public service. From helping to combat obesity in children to developing character, knowledge and skills, it’s an enormous contribution, all things considered.”

Consultant Pat McCartan said: “The investment made by the country’s major competition equestrian centres is enormous but much more needs to be done to bring the top competitions here. We need to be the best in Europe, that must be our focus for the long-term. Massive investment and integrated planning is needed so we can shift the emphasis to competitions being held in Ireland rather than Europe. Big picture thinking is needed to plan the next 20 years and put a real circuit into place which can support and showcase a vibrant industry. Horse Sport Ireland’s new CEO Ronan Murphy must also have the absolute support of the industry and must offer leadership in return. Breeders must breed for a purpose and there’s enormous potential to develop equestrian tourism.”