Greyhound doping - Taggart may have conflict of interest

BORD NA gCON chairman Paschal Taggart admitted yesterday that he has dogs registered in the names of his children, and that one of those animals was trained by a man at the centre of the doping scandal.

This controversy first came to light following the dismissal of Aidan Tynan as the chief executive of Bord na gCon. Sports Minister John O’Donoghue ordered an investigation to determine whether Mr Tynan’s dismissal was connected with the non-publication of drug findings by the control committee of the board chaired by Mr Taggart.

Mr Taggart admitted that he keeps dogs in the names of family members and said that has been the practice for various previous chairmen. He said that he has as many as 12 trainers.

Asked if one of those trainers was involved in the doping scandal, he replied: “Absolutely, it would be very hard not to, because I have all the top 12 trainers. Every one of them has got my dogs.”

Was he suggesting that banned drugs are so prevalent in the sport that it would very difficult to find 12 honest trainers?

Regardless of whose names the dogs are registered in, Mr Taggart described them as his dogs. There is a clear conflict of interest for him to be involved in suppressing information that a man training one of his dogs was convicted of using a banned substance.

The report by Tim Dalton, a former secretary general of the Department of Justice, should be published without further delay. A leaked account suggests that Mr Tynan’s dismissal would not withstand a legal challenge. The minister must act immediately.

The greyhound industry is important to the economy. It is not enough that the sport should be clean; it must be seen to be clean, whereas it is actually getting murkier by the day.