Showjumping Ireland (SJI) chairman Tony Hurley is optimistic the work of its insurance taskforce will pay dividends and he is “hopeful” of a substantial reduction in the premium for next year.

No member of the Army Equitation School is paid in excess of €80,000 per annum.

SHOW jumper Denis Lynch has risen to second in the Rolex World Cup league table following his fifth place with Abbervail van het Dingeshof in Mechelen, Belgium, yesterday.

DEFENCE Minister Alan Shatter has rejected a request that the Army Equitation School boost Ireland’s chances of qualifying two riders for the Olympics by loaning one of its top horses, Annestown, to Billy Twomey.

IT took over two months, but Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) yesterday identified the Sia Group as the consultancy that will undertake a review of Ireland’s poor performance at the European Show Jumping Championships in Madrid.

IT may be a long-shot, but Conor Swail feels he is justified in having one eye on the two individual Olympic places up for grabs after placing second with Lansdowne in the World Cup contest in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday night.

IRELAND show jumping manager Robert Splaine hopes the Army Equitation School can boost Ireland’s chances of qualifying two riders for the Olympics by loaning one of its top horses, Annestown, to Billy Twomey.

Kieran O’Gorman of the West Cork Horse Breeders this week declared that “the school represents great value for money” and he questioned if McCarthy was being “penny wise, but pound foolish”.

WITH Government expenditure under intense scrutiny, it comes as no surprise that the Army Equitation School has again featured on the radar.

You can’t keep a good thing down. It is an aphorism that, as 2010 came to a close, seemed apt for Cameron Hanley, as he returned to winning ways, notably at the four-star shows in Salzburg, Austria and Dresden, Germany.

CIAN O’CONNOR gave himself an early Christmas present yesterday, winning the Welcome Stakes on the first day of the London International Horse Show in Olympia.

IRELAND’s show jumping team selector Paraic Geraghty has accepted the post of Turkish team manager, joining the growing number of his compatriots involved in the sport in the Middle East country.

CAPTAIN GEOFF CURRAN and eventing high performance manager Ginny Elliot are confident the Army officer’s mount, The Jump Jet, will be fighting fit for the Alltech World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

RTÉ’S former southern correspondent has blamed ageism for his departure from the station.

Captain David O'Brien finally put his foot on the pedal today after months of preparation with his new ride Mo Chroi, and won the big 1m50 speed class at Maubeuge, France.

IF experience can buy one thing, it is the ability to deal with success and failure... and Irish show jumping team manager Robert Splaine has more than enough experience to handle the proverbial two sides of the same coin.

Comdt. Gerry Flynn kept up his recent run of good form at the four-star show in Lisbon Portugal tonight with a win in the Grand Prix on the Irish-bred mare 'Mo Chroí'.

HSI brings together equestrian’s breeding and sporting sectors. The former is currently regulated by the Irish Horse Board with the Equestrian Federation of Ireland (made up of 15 affiliates) governing the latter.

JOHN O'DONOGHUE, T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism yesterday announced the establishment of a new Agency - Horse Sport Ireland - which will be responsible for devising and implementing strategies for the development and promotion of an internationally competitive Irish sport horse industry (breeding, sport and leisure sides).

THE announcement on Wednesday of the setting up of the new umbrella body for equestrianism, Horse Sport Ireland (HSI), received broad welcome.

A NEW umbrella body for equestrian sport, Horse Sport Ireland, is set to be chaired by former Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today said he hoped parades would mark the Easter Rising each year until the centenary in ten years’ time as 120,000 people thronged Dublin’s streets in tribute to those who fought and died for Irish freedom.

Tens of thousands of spectators lined the streets of Dublin toay as Ireland marked the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

THE Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) will take the first step in the review of the selection process for senior nations cup teams by holding a meeting on October 10.

Two soldiers have been disciplined after an inquiry into allegations that a private was locked into a locker and ordered to eat food off a floor at an army barracks.

ARMY rider Lieutenant Brian Curran-Cournane notched up his second IJM TimberFrame League grand prix win on Carraig Dubh yesterday at Millstreet Horse Show, having only teamed up with the bay gelding less than two months ago.

Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent

John Tynan

PERHAPS it was an early celebration ahead of St Patrick’s Day, but Ireland’s show jumpers ensured Florida was green last Sunday when winning the first Samsung Nations Cup of the season.

THE Equestrian Federation of Ireland (EFI) yesterday transferred international team selection back to the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI).

THE independent investigation of the Army Equitation School by two UCD vets has been completed and indicates there are/were no untoward practices at the facility, sources say.

THE director of the British laboratory from where the Waterford Crystal B urine sample was stolen said the package was handed to someone without official identification.

THE commanding officer of the Army Equitation School, Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Mullins, is to retire.

EDDIE MACKEN was officially announced yesterday as trainer to the Irish Olympic show jumping team following a meeting of the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) selectors and the Olympic High Performance Committee.

THE prospect of a historic visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth II edged closer yesterday after her daughter Princess Anne jetted in to Dublin to meet President Mary McAleese.

A NOTE of disharmony emerged this week in the Olympic show jumping camp, with some of the long-list of riders ensuring Eddie Macken was installed as team trainer in place of original choice Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Mullins.

DERMOTT LENNON, who became Ireland’s first ever world show jumping champion in Spain last September, was yesterday awarded The Irish Field award as leading show jumper of 2002.