Horse Sport Ireland wins Special Recognition Award at Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards In association with TheraPlate Ireland

Horse Sport Ireland, the governing body for equestrian sport in Ireland, was named winner of the ‘Special Recognition Award’ at The Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards In association with TheraPlate Ireland, which took place at The K Club in Co Kildare on Saturday night.

Liam Geddes (centre) presents the Special Recognition Award to Horse Sport Ireland (collected by HSI Chairman Joe Reynolds (left) and CEO Ronan Murphy (right) during the 2019 Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards held at the K Club, Co. Kildare (Photo: Bit Media)

The Irish Sport Industry Awards recognises the global achievements of the Irish Sport Horse Industry, those who play a vital role in it’s success, and it’s importance to Ireland’s economy.

The Special Recognition Award acknowledged the work of Horse Sport Ireland as a Governing Body during the past year.

Horse Sport Ireland has undergone an intensive programme of change over the course of the last 12 months. This change came on foot of Indecon International Consultant’s review, which made several recommendations to ensure that Horse Sport Ireland was best placed to lead the continued development of the Irish Sport Horse sector.

The team at Horse Sport Ireland have implemented the primary recommendations, restructured the organisation and are now looking forward to leading a new strategic focus for Irish equestrianism into the future.

On accepting the award, Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy said:

“On behalf of Horse Sport Ireland, it is with great pleasure that I accept this award which acknowledges not only the dedication, enthusiasm and hard work of the Horse Sport Ireland team, but also that of our affiliate organisations and stakeholders. Irish equestrian sport and breeding has had phenomenal success over the past 12 months. What Irish riders have achieved in 2018 has been truly inspiring and 2019 has started in similar fashion.
“From an organisational perspective, Horse Sport Ireland has also had a very good start to 2019 having been shortlisted in two categories as finalists for the 2019 Sport Industry Awards which are organised by the Federation of Irish Sport. These Awards recognise and reward excellence in the business of sport, and we are honoured to have been short-listed for the ‘National Governing Body of the Year’ award and the ‘Best use of Social media by an Organisation‘ award. “Our organisation has undergone an intensive programme of change this past year, focusing predominantly on restructuring the organisation, but thanks to the incredible support we have received, we are in the final stages of completing our five-year company strategy and we are looking forward to leading a new strategic focus for Irish equestrianism into the future.”

(l-r) Sam Watson, Judy Reynolds, Belinda Keir, Niki Potterton, Sarah Ennis, Ronan Murphy, Joe Reynolds during the 2019 Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards held at the K Club, Co. Kildare (Photo: Bit Media)

Among the other award winners at The Irish Sport Horse Industry Awards, Irish Dressage star Judy Reynolds received the Inspiration Award, while the Irish Senior Eventing World Silver Medallists received the Grand Prix Award.