Dublin Horse Show starts off with a bang
The 140th staging of the country’s largest horse show got off to an explosive and unexpected start when Ireland’s chef d’equipe, Robert Splaine, hit the headlines when a mini-bar in his room at the Burlington Hotel blew up.
The Irish equestrian boss might have been expecting an early morning call to check on his horses, but not of this variety.
The explosion, which is believed to have been caused by a gas canister in the fridge rather than any horseplay, led to the evacuation at around 5am of the entire hotel where most of the international showjumping stars were staying.
Laughing off the incident later, Mr Splaine admitted his room had been filled with a very pungent odour.
“I wouldn’t call it a fire. It was more of an explosion,” he said, smiling.
It might not have been ideal preparation for Splaine, who is tasked with selecting the Irish team to defend the Aga Khan trophy tomorrow, but the rude awakening did little to deter Ireland’s Olympic medallist Cian O’Connor who won the first international competition at the opening day of the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show.
O’Connor triumphed in the Bewley’s Hotels Speed Stakes on his mount, Unique.
In another break with tradition, Dublin’s new Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn opted to arrive on a bicycle instead of the time-honoured fashion used by his numerous predecessors — the spectacular 224-year-old Lord Mayor’s coach.
Fresh from jumping in a river the previous day to promote the annual Liffey Swim, the Labour councillor chose one of the free two-wheelers from the Dublin Bikes scheme to make the short journey from the Mansion House to the heart of Dublin 4.
Mr Quinn explained his decision not to travel by the fitting transport mode of horse and coach was to show sympathy with Dubliners who had suffered disruption to their daily commute due to the Dublin Bus strike earlier in the week.
“If I was to arrive in a gold carriage drawn by horses with a Garda escort slowing down traffic, it would just send out the wrong signal,” said Mr Quinn, who performed the show’s official opening ceremony.
Accompanied by his wife Elva and children, Eoghan, 13, Alannah, 10, and Hugh, 7, Mr Quinn said it was his first time attending the show since he was brought to the RDS as a child by his grandfather.
He claimed the horse show was a great event for Dublin which attracted a lot of foreign tourists and acted as “a great advertisement for the Irish horse industry”.
The suspension of industrial action by Dublin Bus staff which had crippled transport services in the city over the previous three days helped to boost attendance levels.
Large crowds turned out in glorious sunshine for the opening day of the event which is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors through the RDS turnstiles before it finishes on Sunday.
Amid public concern about the dropping of the iconic supermarket brand, the founder of the business, Senator Feargal Quinn, was greeted by a lot of well-wishers at Ballsbridge.
The politician, who set up the family supermarket chain 53 years ago, admitted yesterday’s decision to drop the brand was “bittersweet”.
