HORSE Racing Ireland (HRI) has appointed five interns for the summer season of 2018, with successful applicants from Kildare, Kerry, Dublin and Galway.

It is the fifth year of the HRI Student Internship Programme, and the five successful interns started their 10-week work placements this week. Three will be based in HRI’s head office in Kildare, in the marketing department, the communications departments and Tote Ireland, while two interns will work in the marketing department in Leopardstown Racecourse.

The five successful candidates are Gerard Mulvihill from Listowel, Co Kerry (attached to communications department); Rebecca Coonan from Naas, Co Kildare (Tote Ireland); Orlaith Nangle from Dundrum, Co Dublin (marketing department); John Feeley from Kinvara, Co Galway (Leopardstown Racecourse); Sophie Vard-Ryan from Sandyford, Co Dublin (Leopardstown Racecourse).

The HRI marketing department and communications department interns, Gerard Mulvihill and Orlaith Nangle, will work with the teams on the promotion of various racecourse events, media monitoring and digital media, and also assist with HRI’s central role in the promotion and administration of Longines Irish Champions Weekend, which takes place on September 15th and 16th at Leopardstown and the Curragh.

The Tote intern Rebecca Coonan will work primarily with the operations team and will also gain experience in marketing and digital media, while the Leopardstown interns John Feeley and Sophie Vard-Ryan will assist in the many areas of racecourse operations such as marketing, sales, digital media, website maintenance and raceday operations.