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Political Focus: Senator Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael, Mayo)
27 February 2017
In a Senate speech in December, Senator Michelle Mulherin recommended that "Seanad Eireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2016". The fund Michelle Mulherin is approving has, in the past 16 years, channelled over a billion euro of taxpayers' money into the gambling industries of horse racing and greyhound racing. The 2016 fund amounted to €80 million, i.e. €64 million to horse racing and €16 million to greyhound racing.
Senator Mulherin, Fine Gael's Seanad Spokesperson on Agriculture, told the Senate: "It is fantastic that the tradition of horse racing and greyhound racing, which have been with us for centuries as part of our history, is to the fore and we can present ourselves on an international stage."
Defending the massive grants, she pointed to "jobs in the horse breeding and dog breeding sectors" and added that "people are getting entertainment and it supports the hospitality sector and international tourism so it is good all round."
In claiming that "it is good all round", Senator Mulherin is clearly ignoring the suffering and death of animals.
As she apparently did in March 2013, when as a TD, she voted against amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill which sought to ban some of Ireland's worst acts of cruelty to animals - foxhunting, hare coursing, digging out, terrierwork, ferreting, badger culling, fur farming and the use of animals in circus performances.
Watch the full 14 December 2016 Seanad debate at
Read a transcript of the debate
https://www.kildarestreet.com/sendebates/?id=2016-12-14a.122
ACTION ALERT
Urge Michelle Mulherin to stop supporting the granting of scarce public funds to gambling industries and to reconsider her stance on animal cruelty issues.
Senator Michelle Mulherin
Leinster House
Kildare St, Dublin 2
Phone: +353 (0)1 618 3000
Email: michelle.mulherin@oir.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/michelle.mulherin.9
Tweet to @mulherinfg
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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