Marine, Simon Coveney, launched
which contains a wide range of recommendations for the
development of the sport horse industry over the next 10
years.
Speaking at the launch at the Irish Army School of Equitation
in Dublin, Minister Coveney said; "I commend Horse Sport
Ireland (HSI), Teagasc and the Royal Dublin Society, who have
combined their expertise to produce this comprehensive
report which involved a detailed consultation process with
stakeholders. I was delighted to have been able to attend a
number of the regional meetings that were organised as part
of that process".
The report contains 35 key recommendations over a broad
range of issues, including improving the quality of horses
and training structure for the transfer of knowledge to
breeders, improving the marketing and sales capacity across
the industry, increasing participation in the sector, progressing
the health and welfare of horses and deepening the
institutional capacity to deliver on the goals of the strategy.
Minister Coveney added: "I have been conscious of the
absence of a coherent vision and plan for the sport horse
sector to enable it to grow and develop and reach its full
potential. We have all the natural advantages for horse
breeding and production in this country, a natural a nity for
the horse, an abundance of horsemanship and world class
riders."
Acknowledging that there has been significant investment in
equestrian infrastructure including a wide range of equestrian
educational and training facilities he said: "We need to take
full advantage of the infrastructure and expertise that has
been built. I believe that the report that is being launched
today provides the framework to harness our resources in
order to achieve our goals".
The former Minister emphasised: "It is not always appreciated
that the sport horse sector contributes over 700m per
annum to the economy, and reaches into communities
the length and breadth of the country." He underlined the
Government's commitment to the development of the
sport horse industry, saying: "The extra funding that was
made available to Horse Sport Ireland from budget 2015 will
facilitate plans to enhance marketing, to increase prize-
money across a range of competitions and to stimulate some
innovative events."
Concluding, Minister Coveney said that the strategic report
provides a roadmap to inject greater confidence and
professionalism into the industry and will be used as a vehicle
to promote and inform policy with particular emphasis on
job creation and sustainable enterprise development and the
facilitation of export-led growth.
with a very generous prize fund of 30,000. The aim of
the Championship was to identify, evaluate and reward
breeders who have bred a foal that has the potential to be
competitive at the highest International level in the disciplines
of showjumping or eventing.
Six regional qualifiers were held throughout the country
with separate sections for potential showjumping foals and
potential eventing foals. Four foals were selected from each
qualifier for the Final; the best showjumping type colt and
filly, and the best eventing type colt and filly.
A total of 158 foals competed in the qualifiers, out of which 24
were selected to compete the final of the inaugural HSI Sport
Horse Foal Championship, which took place at Millstreet
International Horse Show on the 16th August, 2015.
Coveney TD, former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine,
at the launch of the strategic plan