IF ever there was a gaping disparity that urgently needs to be addressed, it’s the enormous gulf that currently exists between the Irish Sport Horse industry with an estimated contribution to the Irish economy of over €816m and the mere €4m in funding allocated to Horse Sport Ireland. HSI received just under €4m in funding in 2016 and marginally over it in 2017.

The updated figures released by HSI’s new CEO Ronan Murphy are both timely and welcome as the Budget looms next week.