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.

THE Government is under pressure to sell off most of the state-owned companies to raise about €5 billion to offset some of the country’s debt.

ALL the security and all the worry and the only one who reared up on the queen was a horse.

One of the stallions Queen Elizabeth was due to see at the National Stud in Kildare town tomorrow has died.

Policy context of asset sales

A raft of state-owned companies face being broken up or sold off under radical plans to raise €5bn and pull Ireland out of the red.

The break-up of the ESB, the privatisation of Dublin Bus and the sale of Bord na Móna and the remaining stake in Aer Lingus are just some of the recommendations in a new report to Government.

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.

The Agriculture Minister has rejected suggestions that the board of the National Stud should be dismissed over recent expenses disclosures.

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.

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.

DROMARD HOUSE in Templemore, Co Tipperary, now carries a €4.5 million sale price tag.

Pastoral Pursuits, who provided Hughie Morrison with his first Group One success when landing the Darley July Cup, has been retired after suffering a minor leg injury.

Pastoral Pursuits lit up Newmarket on the final afternoon of the July meeting today to give Hughie Morrison and John Egan the thrill of a lifetime in the Darley July Cup.

ONE of the most southerly stud farms in the country, Hawthorn Villa Stud, in the rich farming hinterland between Cork and Bandon, is up for sale.

TAKEN abruptly from his family and his friends exactly a year ago last week, the late auctioneer, Sean Twomey, left an impressive legacy.