THE Irish horse industry should combine its forces, both thoroughbred and sport horse, to maximise its political clout in the face of a looming Brexit in 2019.

That was one of the key messages from a panel of experts drawn from UCD, Delolitte and the Department of Agriculture who highlighted key areas of concern to all those involved in the horse industry, both large and small yards, at an RDS Brexit Seminar held on Tuesday.

RTE broadcaster and journalist Tom McGurk, involved in breeding and owning sport horses, chaired the debate and also raised concerns about the possible animal welfare implications of long delays in the movement of horses should a physical border control post be erected between north and south.

With the sport horse industry contributing over €700m to the Irish economy and the racing and bloodstock business worth an additional €1.2bn, the panel urged cohesion within the Irish horse industry, pointing out the increased political strength of speaking as one unified voice for an Irish equine industry worth €2bn and accounting for over 40,000 full-time jobs spread throughout the 32 counties.

Britain is the largest export market for the Irish sport horse industry and much attention focused on the potential difficulties if a border control post was created between north and south.

It’s estimated that €1m worth of overall trade passes every hour of a working day between north and south.

CEO of the RDS, Michael Duffy said: “The Dublin Horse Show is the largest gathering of the Irish sport horse community each year so it is an ideal opportunity to discuss a matter that will affect the industry. As it is an industry that has strong cross-border commercial and social activity, and has Britain as its largest market, there are many ramifications arising from the Brexit decision.”

Partner and Brexit lead at Deloitte, David Carson said: “All industries need to be proactive in engaging with the consequences of Brexit. While uncertainty remains about the final outcome of Britain leaving the EU, companies and industries cannot afford to procrastinate because of this. Deloitte’s “Brexit Labs” accelerates businesses beyond this uncertainty by examining potential risks, scenario planning and exploring opportunities to drive strategy and decision making.

“The sport horse industry has enjoyed free movement of horses between Ireland and Britain since the 1970s, but the implementation of Brexit may require change to this. The sport horse industry is made up of a wealth of interdependent SMEs who are ingrained in rural Ireland, but they need to engage collectively with this pressing issue.”

TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT

John Melville of the Department of Agriculture’s veterinary inspectorate said that since the 1970s, a Tripartite Agreement has existed between the Departments of Agriculture of Ireland, the UK and France, allowing the free movement of horses between all three countries.

Concerns were aired that any border controls required by the final agreement reached between the UK and the EU over Brexit may remove this long-standing arrangement, creating huge difficulties in terms of easy movement of animals and could lead to far more paperwork and health certificates being required.

Dr Alan Fahey of UCD, who along with Horse Sport Ireland’s Director of Breeding Alison Corbally, is involved in evaluating the Irish Sport Horse industry in a report due to be released in the coming weeks, said that the thoroughbred and sport horse industries must come together on the issue and a task force created to champion Brexit for the Irish equine industry.

“Similar to the thoroughbred market, Ireland has an international reputation for producing quality pedigree sport horses, one that has been built up through the generations. As shown in recent economic reports, including the most up-to-date work that has yet to be published, the sport horse industry has the potential to further increase its economic value beyond the current €700 million it contributes. The industry is, however, exposed as any to the consequences of Brexit and we need to begin future-proofing ourselves for a number of potential outcomes, including tariffs on the export to Britain of Irish sport horses,” he said.

Amid concerns over possible increased paperwork and red tape unless agreement over the free movement of animals is successfully negotiated, Tom McGurk also pointed out that the two main centres for sport horse sales in Ireland, Cavan and Goresbridge, had the UK market as their main customers.

The panel also pointed out that while Ireland was uniquely affected, that we are only one out of 27 EU member states and that strong political efforts must be made to ensure the other member states understand and appreciate the unique situation Ireland will find itself in as the only English-speaking EU member state sharing a land border with a non-EU state.

Cavan veterinary surgeon Dermot Forde highlighted that the Good Friday Agreement is an internationally recognised agreement of significance.

The panel readily endorsed this as something that should be utilised to maximum effect in the face of the negotiations over Brexit.