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Minister Creed wants over €7 million more funding for horse and greyhound racing
05 January 2017
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed is pushing for millions more of taxpayers' money to be handed over to horse and greyhound racing, the Irish Examiner has reported. A massive €80 million of public funds has already been paid out to horse and greyhound racing for 2017 but Minister Creed appears determined to divert even more scarce funds to the gambling industries.
The Irish Examiner has revealed that "at the Horse Racing Ireland Awards in December, Minister Michael Creed said he would be looking for an increase of 9% in funding [that's €7,200,000] and, being tied to horse racing, greyhound racing would gain to a similar percentage."
The move is likely to further infuriate under-funded groups around the country, including sporting bodies whose government support was slashed by 30 per cent last year.
The €80 million allocated by Finance Minister Michael Noonan to the horse and greyhound racing industries for 2017 was €28 million more than the entire allocation for Ireland's sports sector. Horse racing was granted €64 million in the budget (€4.8 million more than the previous year) while the dying greyhound industry got an additional €1.2 million to bring its funding up to €16 million. In stark contrast, the money allocated to Ireland's sports sees a huge drop from €73.5 million to €51.91 million.
The Irish Examiner report, headed "Urgent need for someone to stand up for greyhound racing as a whole" acknowledges the growing opposition to greyhound racing, saying "Even those with no specific agenda against the sport are questioning the levels of government funding which it enjoys." Also highlighted was the loss last year of "a number of sponsors, who had been valued, long-term supporters of greyhound racing".
"2016 was not a year which will be fondly remembered within the greyhound industry, and there has to be a fear that this year will be the same, or worse," the Irish Examiner report added.
ACTION ALERT
Don't attend greyhound races or community fund-raisers held at greyhound tracks (these are a significant source of funding for the cruel greyhound industry).
Greyhound racing should not be funded by the people of Ireland, the majority of whom have no interest in it and are rightly opposed to an industry in which dogs are injured, dumped and killed. Please join us in urging the government to stop wasting precious funds on this dying industry.
Michael Noonan
Minister for Finance
Email: michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie
CC: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,michael.creed@oir.ie,andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie
(Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed, Minister of State Andrew Doyle)
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6764735
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Tweet to @EndaKennyTD 
Michael Creed TD
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: michael.creed@oir.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: +353 (0)1-661 1013.
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd
Tweet to @creedcnw
Andrew Doyle TD
Minister of State, Dept of Agriculture
Email: andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie
Tweet to @ADoyleTD
Contact your TDs and urge them to stop using scarce public money to fund gambling industries. Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=32&disp=mem Write to your TDs at: Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: +353 (0)1-618 3000 or 1890 337 889. Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics.
Please sign and share the petitions
Irish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Industry
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euro-to-cruel-greyhound-industry
Stop sponsoring cruel greyhound racing
https://www.change.org/p/stop-sponsoring-cruel-greyhound-racing
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