Taggart defends stand on EPO finding

THE under-fire chairman of Bord na gCon Paschal Taggart openly accepted this weekend that two positive EPO doping findings were not publicised partly because one case involved the top greyhound trainer in the country.

In an extraordinary press conference at Shelbourne Park on Saturday, Mr Taggart defended his handling of the recent controversies over his stewardship of the Irish greyhound industry and lambasted the media for what he described as erroneous and biased reporting.

He said that he had ignored Sports Minister’s John O’Donoghue’s request not to speak publicly because he believed that the independent assessment being carried out by a retired civil servant could not address the allegations made in a “media frenzy” against Bord na gCon. He singled out RTE and the Irish Examiner for particular criticism.