Chris Byrne may take legal route over Premier GP
Chris Byrne has staged the Premier Series final in August for a number of years, but this year the SJI national competitions committee allocated it to the Meadows Equestrian Centre in Co Armagh.
Byrne said he has no issue with this, but he stressed he wants an official explanation as to how he had arrived at a position where he now has no Premier Series grand prix, pointing out that he had lost a major sponsor as a result.
“We are contemplating legal action and that is not sabre rattling,” he said.
“We need to know what influences how these shows are allocated, so we can operate and protect our business.
“I want an extract of minutes of how the decision was made relating to Coilóg only. I have never been confrontational with them in the past. I want to be dealt fairly with.”
He claimed he had applied last September to stage the final, as per usual, but only discovered he was not being allocated it when he telephoned SJI in March.
He conceded he had been allocated a second-tier National Series Grand Prix on May 2, but, with bad weather forecast, he had received just 20 entries and was forced to cancel. He said he was given permission to reschedule for his show this weekend, but this was then withdrawn, with SJI citing congestion.
Byrne provided the Irish Examiner with a copy of a letter sent to to SJI chairman Tony Hurley on March 5. Byrne pointed out that he informed the SJI twice that he was willing to stage a Premier Series show on the second week of July for one year, with the intention of also staging Horse Board classes on the same date.
However, he was offered the third week in July, though Coilóg have a long-standing arrangement to stage a major Dressage Ireland show on that date.
He admitted they had offered him a Premier Grand Prix in May, but it clashed with Thomastown Show.
“Basically, SJI are offering solutions that are not practical,” he said.
In the letter, he said: “I have no objection, reservations, or disagreement with SJI over their entitlement to have the Premier Series hosted in whatever venue they please but I take grave exception to the manner in which we have been treated, the commandeering of our long standing date in August and allocating it to a competing commercial entity.”
He said the issue raised questions about “the corporate governance structure within the SJI and the transparency around which these decisions are made particularly as these have implications for how the public funding of the sport is managed.
“Finally I am disgusted at the lack of communication, the high-handed manner in which this has been managed and the inevitable breakdown in relationships between Coilóg and SJI.”
Byrne said he was considering engaging the same legal representatives that had represented Millstreet in its dispute with SJI a number of years ago and said: “I am worried about the consequences for Coilóg that might arise by raising this issue, but I feel compelled to do something about this, particularly in relation to the larger issue of good governance.”
Yesterday Mr Hurley said: “ShowjumpingIreland regret that Coilóg had to cancel their National Grand Prix in early May. He [Mr Byrne] had been offered other dates to replace that show. Those dates were not suitable to him. ShowjumpingIreland has bent over backwards to facilitate Coilóg.”
“There is no breakdown in communication on SJI’s side. All shows are officially informed about decisions regarding their applications and affiliations to SJI. Our job is to help every show and support every show and there are no exceptions.”
In a statement, chairman of the SJI’s national competitions committee Eamonn Rice said: “The Premier Series Grand Prix dates for the 3rd May, 6th & 7th of June and the weekend of the 18th & 19th of July were offered to Coilóg.
“A telephone conversation was held between myself and Chris Byrne regarding the 18th & 19th, which Coilóg agreed to, as this was the selection day for the Irish Stud Book Showjumping Series.
“When grand prix tenders were submitted to the Showjumping Ireland office there were no issues surrounding the allocation of dates. Our records show that Coilóg submitted a tender for the weekend of the 30th-31st of August.
“It was clearly an issue of miss-communication on both sides. It is my hope that going forward we can continue a strong working relationship.”
* Cian O’Connor got off to a good start at the three-star show in Arnhem, the Netherlands, yesterday, winning a speed class on Quidam’s Cherie.
At Tryon, North Carolina, Thomas Foley tasted success with Beluga in a 1.50mtr speed class. Conor Swail and Viva Colombia finished runner-up at the five-star show in Spruce Meadows, Canada, just ahead of Cork’s Shane Sweetnam, aboard Easy Contact Humlan. n The West Cork Horse Breeders will stage their annual performance show at the West Cork Equine Centre on Saturday July 18. The top-three horses in the loose-jumping competition will qualify for the Young Irelander class at Millstreet’s international show in August.
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