MADAM,

LIKE so many in our community, I read with dismay your article of 5th May in relation to the proposed removal of the National Sport Horse arena and its replacement it with “a vegetable garden”. The ensuing social media storm was as predictable as it was warranted.

Sports Campus Ireland plans to remove this highly valued facility and install a vegetable patch. I can’t find an affiliate body for competitive vegetable growing in Ireland though if I could I would argue it should find its own place and space and not displace ours.

But let’s cast the emotional aside and put some perspective on things, the equestrian industry contributes over €1bn annually to the Irish economy (Horse Sport Ireland, Budget Submission, 2023) and provides over 14,000 full time equivalent jobs (Teagasc, Unlocking the Potential of the Horse Sport Industry, 2018). Horse Sport is a substantial employer and contributor to the nations coffers. For comparison, football, the biggest sport by participation in Ireland, makes a direct contribution to the Irish economy of €355m (2021 FAI UEFA SROI report) or approximately 1/3 that of the sport horse industry. On that basis alone I would argue for equestrian sports continued inclusion at our national sports campus. To think otherwise is to demean our sport and industry.

So what is to be done? Social media said “someone should start a petition”. Good idea I thought, so fuelled by indignation and a desire to see things put right, I set one up. It can be found on change.org under “Stop the removal of the National Horse Sport Arena from the Sport Ireland Campus”. It has over 1,800 signatures. The signatures have been accompanied by a massive outpouring of support, anger, frustration and disbelief. What is abundantly clear is people want the facility retained.

The National Horse Sport arena is not just important for the amenity it provides but also as a symbol of horse sports place at the heart of Ireland’s sporting landscape.

This is a good facility, even if it wasn’t it would be better than no facility. In fact if it was down right rotten it would still be a sports facility...and perhaps that’s the point, should sports facilities not trump horticultural ones at our National sports campus? Call me old fashioned but I think so.

Yours etc,

Donal Milmo-Penny

North County Dublin