ONE of Simon Coveney’s first ministerial board appointments saw a key election organiser for his Cabinet colleague Phil Hogan installed as the chairman of the Irish Greyhound Board in Apr 2011.

Promotional material for horse breeding services which features a woman straddling a man has been criticised as “unprofessional” by the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI).

Legislation to facilitate the taxation of offshore betting will be in place by the end of February but horse racing will not be in a position to fund itself directly as a result.

Heiress and bloodstock breeder Chryss O’Reilly is to step down from one of the most controversial chairmanships in the semi- state sector.

The expenses regime operated by the Irish National Stud was fully defended at the time by its chairman, writes investigative correspondent Conor Ryan

The chairman of the natio-nal stud penned a lengthy defence of its controversially lavish expenses’ regime at a time it was pleading for a €5m lending lifeline.

Several state-appointed board members responsible for running the Irish National Stud shared in the benefits of bloodstock investments that netted the company €3.6m last year.

Outstanding chaser Florida Pearl died on Saturday evening, aged 20, the Irish National Stud said in a statement yesterday.

Outstanding chaser Florida Pearl died on Saturday evening, aged 20, the Irish National Stud said in a statement today.

Florida Pearl’s condition is being constantly monitored as he continues to suffer from “a few issues” at the Irish National Stud.

Florida Pearl’s condition is being constantly monitored as he continues to suffer from “a few issues” at the Irish National Stud.

The Irish National Stud has had its second royal visit in 10 months, with the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, arriving recently.

THE National Stud needs new rules of governance to avoid further controversies over its business dealings, former finance minister Alan Dukes has said.

THE controversial Irish National Stud will remain in public ownership, but the revamp of its boardroom will continue with the appointments of new directors, according to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

With the financial fate of the state’s most speculative asset, the Irish National Stud, strapped to a sinking economy, the two people best placed to turn business around could no longer work together after their affair ended with allegations of bullying, mistreatment and attempted suicide, writes Conor Ryan.

THE controversial semi-state company, the Irish National Stud (INS), continued to lose money last year while at the same time increasing the level of business it was involved in with members of its Government-appointed boardroom.

ONE of the most expensive aspects of the controversial clean-up organised for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in May has been revealed as the loss of a lucrative horse living at the National Stud.

YOU or your other half enjoys horseracing; you’d like to visit a trainer’s yard without actually having to pay to train, house and feed half a tonne of horse; and you’re looking for a different weekend away.

The Chief Executive of the Irish National Stud John Osbourne is moving to scotch rumours that the centre could be sold.

Policy context of asset sales

THE Irish National Stud is set to post a deficit of €4 million for 2009. New chief executive of the semi-state company John Osbourne said after a loss of €2.4m in 2008, even the benefits of multi-million euro windfall deals in recent years, and a €9.9m profit in 2007, had been wiped out.

THE Irish National Stud (INS) has conceded it must tighten up rules on the conduct of its key personnel in inside deals involving its stallions.

The new chief executive of the Irish National Stud is defending the expenses racked up by his predecessor.

The Chief Executive of the Irish National Stud is to appear before an Oireachtas Committee today to discuss recent spending revelations.

THE Irish National Stud has defended the expenses bills for its seven-member board of directors which totalled €85,397 between 2001 and 2009.

PRIVATE studs connected to key personnel at the Irish National Stud (INS) spent €235,199 over nine years to avail of the breeding facilities at the semi-state farm.

INDEPENDENT auditors Kealy Mehigan were commissioned by the Irish National Stud to examine 10 months of expenses bills incurred by its staff members.

AN internal Irish National Stud audit found its former chief executive John Clarke accounted for 60% of the total staff travel expenses bill for most of 2008.

JUST because they have been having expenses scandals in Britain does not mean we should have similar scandals in this country.

THE Irish National Stud has tried to explain away the origins of €719,000 worth of un-tendered business deals between it and its key personnel.

BOARD members of the Irish National Stud and chairwoman Chryss O’Reilly are in a battle to retain their prestigious positions.

AGRICULTURE Minister Brendan Smith has been told to shake up the board of the Irish National Stud by the chair of the Dáil’s spending watchdog, who said the company was run like “Fás on overdrive”.

BUSINESS deals at the Irish National Stud (INS) worth €718,000 were not put to competitive tender and were awarded to firms run by some of its key personnel.

High Court injunction proceedings brought by a manager at the Irish National Stud, who claims she was bullied by her ex-boss after she ended their affair, aimed at restraining the company from placing her on medical leave, has been resolved.

A MANAGER at the Irish National Stud (INS) has told the High Court how repeated sexual assaults and bullying at work drove her to attempt suicide.

OF ALL the investments made in the name of the state during the boom, the 2002 purchase of a controlling stake in a five-year-old stallion, Invincible Spirit, was perhaps the most spectacular.

THREE senior figures in the Irish National Stud received €2.9 million for their share-holding in a prized stallion in which the Government-owned company was the biggest shareholder.

THE man who investigated bullying and harassment allegations at University College Cork has been appointed to help run the embattled Irish National Stud (INS) on a temporary basis.

AN investigation into the entire business operations of the Irish National Stud has been called for in the wake of revelations of high-level bullying at the company.

IRISH stud owners with valuable stallions now quarantined in Australia, where equine flu is spreading, will be hard hit financially if the lock-down continues.

MICHAEL OSBORNE, a former senior steward of the Irish Turf Club and one of the leading figures in international racing in recent decades, has died after a short illness at the age of 71.

Sheikh Mohammed led the tributes to Michael Osborne, a former senior steward of the Irish Turf Club and leading figure in international racing, who died on Wednesday after a short illness at the age of 71.

THE rapidly improving Barrow Drive cannot be opposed in the Irish Field Novice Chase at Punchestown this afternoon, on a programme which is set to house a huge amount of runners.