Letters to the Editor: Greyhound industry body responds to Fergus Finlay's column on funding
A greyhound race gets underway at Curraheen Park Greyhound Stadium in Curraheen, Cork. Stock picture: Jim Coughlan
In his recent column — '€2,500,000,000 on the dogs and the geegees? That’s Ireland' ( , October 14) — Fergus Finlay raises serious questions around public funding and greyhound welfare.
In response, Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) wishes to place on public record the following verified figures (latest half-year reporting January to June 2025) to show how the sport monitors and reports its welfare performance:
- Inspections/compliance: More than 1,003 track and kennel inspections were conducted, with a compliance rate of 95.2% (full compliant) and 3.8% (satisfactory with advisory recommendations);
- Injury rate: 99.5% uninjured (ie less than five injuries per 1,000 starts);
- Testing/sample compliance: 3,827 samples taken, 99.5% compliance with regulatory standards.
These figures underline a sport that operates with openness, rigorous oversight, and continual public accountability.
If public funds are invested in greyhound racing, the Irish public deserves, and receives, a sport that publishes transparent welfare metrics, enforces high standards, and is fully auditable.
A recent survey by the World Health Organization (WHO) has painted a stark picture concerning the mental health of doctors and nurses. We learn from the WHO that one in three doctors and nurses in Europe report depression or anxiety, and one in 10 have had suicidal thoughts in the past two weeks. As a clinician, these statistics do not surprise me.
Many medics often say lengthy disciplinary processes have often left them feeling suicidal. Burnout and depression is common among doctors and nurses.
It’s my contention that anxiety in doctors is caused by the immense pressure of their demanding jobs, including long hours, high patient workloads, and life-or-death decisions.
Additional causes of anxiety includes the fear of making mistakes, exposure to trauma, and difficulty balancing professional and personal life. Anxiety within nurses is caused by handling hospital emergencies, managing large patients loads, and constant care standards.
Other factors that nurses experience include feeling the pressure of potential errors, dealing with long hours, insufficient resources, and communication conflicts with colleagues and physicians.
One finds that, for new nurses, a lack of experience and confidence also contributes significantly to their anxiety. I would like to see the powers that be — hospital authorities, the Irish Medical Council , the Department of Health, etc — taking a vested interest in the mental health of our doctors and nurses.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week published yet another report recording the continuous decline in the water quality in our lakes and rivers.
Though urban and industrial sources were identified as problematic, the EPA recorded the greatest contributory factor to this destruction is agriculture. That charge is borne out by the fact that the greatest decline in quality was seen in areas with intensive dairy farming.
Despite this objective evidence, our Government presses ahead with their wrong-headed efforts to have the dangerous nitrates derogation extended. This raises an obvious, but disturbing, question: Who does our Government imagine it represents? The dairy industry or the great majority who are utterly dismayed by this never-ending destruction of countryside and waterways?
It’s getting to not be worth it anymore being a landlord. There are too many responsibilities and yet tenants do not pay rent or utility bills for months while waiting for the Residential Tenancies Board to evict them.
Landlords must keep a property up to spec then have to chase tenants after they move out and leave them with a couple thousand euro in the hole from unpaid bills and rent. On top of that, tenants wreck the property. If they’re on government assistance, the landlord is never going to get their money.
With the number of presidential candidates reduced to two, very little discussion has been given to alternative ways of trying to get candidates on the now perceived closed shop ballot paper. They have to be nominated by council politicians from four councils or 20 members of the Dáil and Seanad.
High-profile and other potential candidates outside the political system, having declared an interest to be on the ballot paper, had to drop out or fell short.
This comes to my point: In reality, the June 2024 EU and council elections and the November 2024 general election, with turnouts of around 50% and 59% respectively, directly or indirectly decides who goes on the ballot paper for the presidential election.
The president is and should be independent of the Government, representing all of the people home and abroad. I belive the system of a person getting their name on a ballot paper for president should be different to give everyone an opportunity.
I suggest the following: Each province has a run of election six months before a main election and 1,000 or 2,000 pledges /signatures would get you on the provincial ballot. Ulster should include Northern Ireland for candidates for the provincial and national elections.
The top two or three candidates from each province then should be put on the main ballot paper for the main presidential election.
Irish emigrants, especially the recent ones, should have a say in the nomination and voting.
Voting is the only legitimate way to give voice to agitation, frustration, or your point of view as we know very well in Ireland.
Due to low turnouts, younger voices need a reason to register and campaign for a candidate. This gives people a local way to get candidates on the ballot paper.
I believe it is now time to rock the democratic system, have another miracle by blowing the candle out and lighting a bigger and brighter way for our modern island of Ireland, and both for growing an educated population and our diaspora when electing our president.
Heather Humphreys insists that her opponent, Catherine Connolly, has insulted “our allies”. To be sure, Ms Connolly has criticised specific behaviours of some of our European partners.
What is interesting and very telling, though, is that Ms Humphreys choses the word “allies” instead of friends. The word usually comes from a military perspective or mindset. Ireland is not at war.
It is strange then to call our friends our allies.
Surely it is the role of our friends to tell us when we are “in the wrong”, when we are harming others, when we are acting out of character, or when we are harming ourselves, our image or our relationships by our own behaviour.
Within the context of true friendship, we should be able to take such observations and concerns from our real and dear friends.
We trust and rely on our friends for the truth where mere acquaintances might remain reticent or might simply not care. Perhaps Ms Connolly is a better friend to “our allies” than Ms Humphries.
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