ATTENDING Wednesday’s Budget briefing at Agriculture House in Dublin’s Kildare Street, it was evident that the Ministers, plus key civil servants, at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine see the real – and perhaps the only – value for Irish taxpayers lies in backing Horse Sport Ireland’s breeding programmes for Irish-bred horses.

With the Covid squeeze on the coffers, this was always going to be a tough Budget for all. That said, there was deep disappointment that there was only a €200,000 increase from DAFM for Horse Sport Ireland, bringing their budget commitment to €5.2 million for 2022.