Banned elsewhere, funded here: Why Ireland still supports greyhound racing

A survey ahead of last year’s election showed that 70% of the electorate either oppose or strongly oppose the State’s funding of greyhound racing

Greyhounds, as pets, typically live 12 years on average. Having roughly a third of animals bred dying inside three years would seem to be a staggering waste of life. File Picture: iStock

Last week, the Welsh government moved to end greyhound racing in Wales “as soon as practically possible” following a cross-party call for a ban on foot of animal welfare concerns.

That move follows a similar decision delivered last December by the New Zealand government, proposing the phasing out of greyhound racing from 2026, due to the percentage of dogs being injured being “unacceptably high”.

Last Sunday, meanwhile, a dog called No More Rolos was injured in the first race at Lifford Stadium in Donegal and did not finish.

Video of the race shows the dog colliding with another competitor at the first bend. After that, the very audible wails of a stricken animal can be heard loud and clear while the remainder of the pack continues their run.

Injuries are an occupational hazard in dog racing. Greyhound Racing Ireland, the industry’s administrator in Ireland, last week released fresh details of injuries and fatalities in the racing pool in 2024.

The new statistics do not make for pretty reading.

In 12 months, injuries and fatalities increased by more than 50%, up to 202 deaths and a further 187 injuries.

In reacting to the figures, Greyhound Racing Ireland described the increase as “regrettable” and noted that less than 1% of the 97,621 greyhounds which raced last year were injured.

That is one way of looking at things. The reality is that most dogs are raced on multiple occasions. 

No More Rolos was on her 33rd race in just 10 months when she got injured.

Cries of pain at Lifford track (16 Feb 2025): 2 greyhounds suffer falls at the first bend. One of them - No More Rolos - "did not finish" the race (suggesting an injury). [Video: Greyhound Racing Ireland/CC BY 4.0 licence]. Don't go greyhound racing. #Ireland #BanGreyhoundRacing pic.twitter.com/uVq4RWvAIq

— Ban Blood Sports (@banbloodsports) February 17, 2025

Estimating the exact number of animals in the racing pool is difficult. However, using Greyhound Racing Ireland's own official race management system figures for 2022 and 2023 (which do not include Lifford-registered animals, as that track is privately operated), there were on average 2,897 dogs registered as racing at any one time.

Dividing that 2,897 figure by the number of injuries in 2024 you get a stark statistic — one in eight racing dogs were injured last year. Roughly, one in 15 were killed.

Dead or unaccounted for

Last August, the Irish Examiner revealed that nearly 2,800 greyhounds, or a fifth of the dogs born on the island of Ireland in 2021, were either dead or unaccounted for. And that’s not accounting for exports.

When the 4,527 greyhounds of the 2021 litters who were subsequently exported were taken out of the equation, just under 35% of the animals remaining in Ireland from that year were either dead or their location was unknown.

Greyhounds, as pets, typically live 12 years on average. Having roughly a third of animals bred dying inside three years would seem to be a staggering waste of life.

With both Wales and New Zealand now committing to banning dog racing, there are now just four countries worldwide that have a commercial greyhound industry — the US (where there are only two racing stadia nationwide), the remainder of Britain excluding Wales, Australia, and Ireland.

Of those four, Ireland is the only nation whose Government subsidises the sport.

The Government does so via the Horse and Greyhound Fund — and to the tune of €19.82m in 2025.

We now know that Greyhound Racing Ireland saw itself as being on something of a sticky wicket when the New Zealand news broke last December, seeking PR advice as to how to handle queries about the decision. 

They were told — in no uncertain terms — to not get drawn into a debate, as “once you are explaining, you are losing”.

That advice has been taken to heart. When queried regarding the Wales announcement last week, a spokesperson for Greyhound Racing Ireland said that the sport “enjoys significant support from Government and welcomes the ongoing commitment to the sport and industry in the programme for Government”.

In January, protestors gathered outside Leinster House to demand the new Government ban greyhound racing. File Picture: Alan Rowlette / © RollingNews.ie

A survey of Irish voters by British polling company Norstat — commissioned by American greyhound welfare body Grey2K USA Worldwide — ahead of last November’s Irish general election indicated that 70% of the electorate either oppose or strongly oppose the State’s funding of greyhound racing.

Would the dam ever break in terms of the Government’s support of the sport?

You would imagine not given the aforementioned commitment delivered to the Horse and Greyhound Fund in the programme for Government, that the new administration would “ensure the continued support to the Horse and Greyhound Fund, considering the vital economic and social contribution generated by these sectors in rural areas”.

That much-trumpeted economic contribution, based on a report compiled by economist Jim Power, amounted to the delivery of €132.3m to the Irish exchequer in 2019 — the same year in which an RTÉ exposé claimed that as many as 6,000 greyhounds were being culled each year due to their not being fast enough.

Leaving aside the considerable impact of the RTÉ documentary on the sport, the statistics, which were already hotly disputed by Ireland’s anti-greyhound advocates, are now six years old.

Given the banning decisions arrived at by both New Zealand and Wales in recent months, it may be time to re-evaluate just what exactly greyhound racing contributes to Irish life and just how deep the Government’s support for the embattled industry is.