Teenagers deserve an apology

THE letter from Peter O’Reilly last week (page A4, August 26th), regarding the failure of his 16-year-old daughter and her friends to gain admission to Leopardstown Races as they were not accompanied by an adult, is truly shocking.

How ironic that this should appear in the same edition that highlighted the Twitter debate started by Michael O’Callaghan on how to attract more people to the races.

The fact that Horse Racing Ireland effectively owns Leopardstown makes it even more baffling, especially considering the amount of effort and money they spend on a marketing budget that is supposed to attract people to the races.

After such a bad experience who could blame these girls if they never darken the gates of a racecourse again.

It is also no doubt true that many of their friends who have heard about their experience will also decide that racecourses are not for them.

As shocking as Peter’s letter is, the response of Leopardstown CEO Pat Keogh is even more shocking especially as I would have considered him to be one of our more enlightened racecourse managers.

Instead of coming out and apologising to these girls for such humiliating treatment, his attempts at justification will have added further insult as he referred to kids zones, colouring competitions and children’s play areas. When you are in a hole, stop digging, the old adage goes.

These girls were old enough to ride in a race at Leopardstown. If the problem is underage drinking then the issue is their bar staff and security, not the attendance of the very people who are the future of racing.

I grew up within a couple of miles of Leopardstown and myself and a few friends would regularly attend Leopardstown unaccompanied during the 1970s from the age of about 13 onwards. From this grew a love of racing that has passed onto the next generation.

The greatest challenge racing has is in gaining the interest of the younger generation. Competition is intense with Premiership football, rugby, GAA and even video games all vying for the attention of a fickle audience.

Racing should be reaching out to these girls and encouraging them to come racing, not turning them away. As someone who loves racing with a passion and who sometimes despairs at its failure to engage with a young audience, I was incensed when reading Peter’s letter and the response from Leopardstown. - Yours etc.,

Denis Coakley

Kildare

Co Kildare

Letters to the Editor should be addressed to The Editor, The Irish Field, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12. Name, address and telephone number must be included for verification. Letters are published at the Editor’s discretion and the Editor reserves the right to edit letters within reason.