Greyhound Racing Ireland advised to stay silent on New Zealand dog racing ban

The management of Greyhound Racing Ireland sought advice on how they should handle the fallout from New Zealand's decision and whether they should speak publicly on it.

Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) was warned not to get drawn into public debate over a ban on dog racing in New Zealand, with advice that “once you are explaining, you are losing.”

In discussions with PR advisers, GRI had asked how they should respond to requests from RTÉ and others to talk about a decision made in New Zealand to ban greyhound racing from 2026 onwards.

New Zealand decided late last year to wind the sport down over a 20-month period due to the “unacceptably high” rate of injury to dogs, a decision also taken by the Welsh Government earlier this week.

The management of GRI sought advice on how they should handle the fallout from New Zealand's decision and whether they should speak publicly on it.

An email from its PR company said: “We simply do not know enough about the myriads of issues that may have led to the ending of greyhound racing in New Zealand to comment on the matter.

To engage in a conversation on the issue would result in GRI having to answer for New Zealand greyhound racing without being armed with the necessary information. Once you are explaining, you are losing in such situations.

Instead, it was recommended a more general prepared statement highlighting the importance of the industry, growing attendance figures, and commitment to animal welfare should be relied upon.

Amid further requests for Greyhound Racing Ireland to speak on the New Zealand ban, text messages from GRI chief executive Tim Lucey to a representative of the Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation asked if perhaps a breeder could speak publicly to put forward their take on the decision.

A message to Mr Lucey said: “Appears to be open season at the moment. [UK breeder representative] on this morning Radio 5 Live UK discussing the New Zealand decision. IMO, I thought he came across very well.”

Mr Lucey responded saying: “That was a pretty light interview. Not sure we’d get the same here.”

Asked about the internal discussions and the reference to a "light interview", Mr Lucey said: “The comment does not relate to or express any belief regarding fairness or otherwise of media coverage.

“It simply expresses a view that the interview referred to appeared to be light without any nature of debate therein.”

Two paying customers at Youghal track

Meanwhile, new attendance figures for Ireland’s 14 greyhound tracks in 2024 show Youghal stadium, which was saved from closure via a last-minute bailout in 2023, had just two paying customers for the entire year.

In statistics released to People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, GRI said Youghal had 8,840 attendees over the course of its 131 meets in 2024, an average of 67 people in attendance per night.

However, some 8,622 of those in attendance were owners and trainers, while 216 of them were bookmakers.

The track recorded just two old age pensioners as paying attendees for the entirety of 2024.

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GRI has previously noted Youghal’s meets are held in the early evening at times “not conducive to attracting public attendance” as the stadium has a "commercially attractive” deal with British satellite broadcaster Sports Information Services.