Bookies, Racing and Greyhound Industries Back RISE! Campaign
1st March 2010

Leading participants in horse racing and greyhound racing, together with major bookmakers, have signalled their support for the RISE! Rural Ireland Says Enough! Campaign.

The campaign has been formed by sixteen organisations representing hunting and gun clubs to promote and defend traditional rural sports against impending legislative threats being promoted by the Green Party.

From next week, almost two hundred bookie shops throughout the country will display posters supporting the RISE! Campaign and will stock supplies of petition sheets to allow customers to signal their support. The bookies’ chains supporting the campaign are:

• Boyle Sports       120 shops          Nationwide
  
  
• Bruce Betting      60 shops           Dublin
  
  
• Stan James         10 shops            Cork

The posters and petitions will be in the shops just in time for the big surge of interest in the annual Cheltenham Festival.

The Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association (IRTA) have circulated information packs on the RISE! Campaign and petition sheets to their 450 members, requesting them to encourage their employees, suppliers and clients to sign them. The IRTA said ‘The proposed legislation coming before the Dáil as proposed by the Green Party, is the thin end of the wedge and, if successful, will undoubtedly affect our traditional field sports and rural past times.’ The current Chairman of the IRTA is leading trainer Noel Meade and the Council includes well known names like Michael Halford, Dessie Hughes, Pat Martin and Jessica Harrington.
Organisations representing hundreds of jockeys have also expressed their support for RISE! The Qualified Riders’ Association, representing five hundred amateur jockeys, stated: ‘We wish to preserve our rural heritage and culture. The threat from the Green Party is very unpopular.’ Representing the professional jockeys, The Irish Jockeys’ Association are in support and their members actively supporting RISE! include Ruby Walsh, Kevin Manning, Barry Geraghty, Declan McDonagh, Nina Carberry, Paul Carberry, Niall Madden, Ross Geraghty and Robert Power.

In greyhound racing and coursing, the Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders’ Federation have also added their support.
 
A spokesperson for RISE! said: ‘The bookies, owners, trainers and jockeys realise that their sports and businesses depend on the continued existence of traditional field sports like hunting and coursing. If the Green Party succeed in banning any of these, they will kick the foundations out from under horse racing and greyhound racing as well as betting. More than 30,000 jobs are at stake in horse and greyhound racing, plus an annual economic benefit of €1.2 billion.’


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