LAST Friday I chaired a session at the immensely successful Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Expo 2018. We had an outstanding panel gathered to discuss a very broad brief.

‘What If – A Vision for 2028’ could have taken a day to discuss in detail, but we just had two hours. We did manage to address a number of issues, but one topic dominated. That was Brexit. As one whose eyes tended to glaze over when that six-letter word was mentioned, I was not surprised afterwards to hear some mutterings about spending too much time on the topic that night.

We gave the coverage of Brexit an hour, and if anyone feels that spending one hour looking at the most important challenge we as individual citizens, Ireland as a nation, and the equine and equestrian worlds will likely face in our lifetime is time wasted, I beg to differ.

We had the First Vice-President of the European Parliament present to give us a unique insight into what is going on, and this was not an occasion to rush.

The fact that so much is unknown about what the future holds is no reason not to talk about Brexit, and I am a recent convert to this viewpoint. The ITBA is taking a lead on this and engaging where it can with leaders and influencers to stress the chaos that could ensue if the worst case scenarios emerge.

On Thursday night I attended a Brexit meeting which featured Minister Simon Coveney and Mairead McGuinness MEP among others. The possible scenarios outlined, including by former Horse Sport Ireland boss and now IFA director general Damian McDonald, were at times frightening, though Minister Coveney was of the reasoned view that “it is not all doom and gloom.”

That view is somewhat at odds with many others expressed on the night, and one can only hope that given how close the Minister is to the negotiations, and the reasons he outlined for having such a degree of confidence, that he is proven in time to be right.

Our bloodstock, racing and sport horse worlds are vitally important to us. So too are the many concerns of all the citizens of Ireland. At times it seems to be hopeless trying to convince those in power that certain conditions need to be enshrined in any agreement. However, all voices must be heard, and we should get behind our industry leaders to hammer home our particular concerns.