Minister had link to doping scandal trainer
Paul Hennessy, perhaps the most prodigious trainer in Ireland and Britain, handled Lotto Princess for a group of 19 TDs and senators called the Leinster Lawn Syndicate, which includes Mr O’Donoghue.
The syndicate was set up by now-deceased Cork TD Liam Burke as a way to bring Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians together and raise the profile of the sport in the Oireachtas.
Past and present members of the syndicate include Finance Minister Brian Cowen - who thought up the group’s name, Joe Walsh, John Cregan, Batt O’Keeffe, Denis O’Donovan, Frank Fahey and Jim McDaid. There is no suggestion that the syndicate’s professional relationship with Mr Hennessy influenced Mr O’Donoghue in any way.
Sources in the racing industry point out that Mr Hennessy trains around 100 dogs at any one time and has connections with just about everyone involved in the sport.
Other famous dogs trained by him include The Late Late Show.
Mr Hennessy has won every major race in the sport, with the exception of the Irish Derby.
Kilkenny-based Mr Hennessy was fined €1,000 by greyhound racing’s control board in November for running a dog, Barefoot Jenny, which had been given the banned substance EPO. The case was never publicised by the Irish Greyhound Board.
This prompted its chief executive, Aidan Tynan, to last week complain to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism that the board’s chairman, Paschal Taggart, had ensured that the drug abuse case was not put in the public domain, contrary to established policy.
Mr Tynan was fired on Thursday by the board.
Mr Hennessy told RTÉ that EPO was administered to Barefoot Jenny last summer.
However, he insisted that he did not want the matter hidden from the public.
Mr Taggart said the board decision to remove Mr Tynan was unanimous. He rejected any allegations of bullying.
He said Mr Tynan’s letter “had no consequences to him being sacked”.
Mr O’Donoghue has called for an urgent report into the matter.
