Greyhound industry insiders make up over half of race attendees

With trackside audiences dwindling, campaigners call for the sport’s state funding to be cut off
Ben Haugh
Sunday July 03 2022, 12.01am, The Sunday Times
Protesters at Shelbourne Park say they wonder how the industry supports itself with so few spectators

More than half the people who attended races at Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) tracks this year were owners, trainers, bookmakers, or received free tickets, according to an analysis of attendance figures by The Sunday Times.

Animal rights campaigners say the figures show that the “vast majority” of the public are not interested in the sport and have again called for state funding — almost €18 million this year — to be dropped from the budget.

Nuala Donlon, a spokeswoman for Greyhound Action Ireland (GAI), said: “Protesters outside Shelbourne Park sometimes wonder how the stadium can pay the ESB bills because there are so few fans going in.”

Figures provided by GRI, the semi-state body which owns and operates nine tracks, show that 75,333 people attended races in the first five months of the year. This includes 35,912 owners and trainers and 1,240 bookmakers. There were 1,036 complimentary tickets. These three categories amounted to 50.7 per cent of the total.

Last year 115,278 people attended races at the tracks, including 76,993 owners and trainers, 1,896 bookmakers, and 2,186 complimentary tickets. This represented 70 per cent of the total. Pandemic restrictions were in place on events for a significant period last year, but were then eased before being completely lifted in January 2022.

State funding for the industry has come under increased scrutiny since 2019 when an RTE Investigates documentary revealed that up to 6,000 greyhounds were being killed each year because they were not fast enough. RTE reported that the industry was breeding 1,000 per cent more puppies than needed. Animal rights campaigners have protested outside Shelbourne Park, GRI’s only Dublin stadium, at race meetings on Saturday nights since the broadcast.

The industry has received €17.6 million from the state this year under the Department of Agriculture’s horse and greyhound fund. It received €19.2 million last year, and €16.8 million in 2020. It has received almost €310 million since 2001.


Race attendances have been falling steadily for a number of years, with state funding increasing in tandem with declining box office revenues in order to keep the industry afloat. For example, in 2001 the industry received €11.7 million compared to €17.6 million this year.

In 2008, 1.1 million people attended greyhound races, but this fell to just over 500,000 in 2018 and 462,709 in 2019. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, attendances were 126,376, followed by 115,278 last year. The figures do not include attendances at private tracks.

GRI said it could not provide a breakdown of what proportion of its attendances were made up of trainers, owners, bookmakers or complimentary tickets in the years before 2021.

It said it expected attendances to return to 70 per cent of 2019 levels — about 325,000 — following the pandemic.

“It should be noted however that attendances in person at stadia do not in any way adequately reflect the viewership and interest in greyhound racing,” GRI claimed in a statement.

“As with all sport today, audiences view much of the activity online and Irish greyhound racing is actively viewed by thousands of domestic and international fans monthly via online streaming and via Racing Post Greyhound TV.”

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It insisted state funding for the sector provided “excellent value for money” for Irish taxpayers, claiming it makes a “net contribution” to the Irish economy and supports 4,150 full and part-time jobs.

A 2019 report by Indecon, commissioned by GRI, said the sector would “not be financially sustainable” if the “decline in attendance continues and if the existing cost base is not reduced”. It found that the losses were sustainable only thanks to the ongoing support from the state.

Mick Barry, a Solidarity TD who has campaigned to end of state funding for the industry, said greyhound racing represents animal cruelty.

“It’s clear from these figures that there’s another good reason to turn off the tap: these funds are propping up a dying industry. The fact that owners, trainers and bookmakers are being included in the attendance stats shows that the numbers are artificially boosted. But even if you accept the official figures I don’t think they can justify a taxpayer investment of over €300 million since 2001,” he said.

GAI called for a review of how state funds are being spent by the industry ahead of the next budget.

Donlon said: “The comptroller and auditor general needs to carry out an audit on how taxpayers’ money is being spent at a time when Irish people are at the pin of their collar trying to survive.”

She added: “Leaving the animal cruelty aside, this is a public expenditure issue. It’s a serious issue and we want an immediate inquiry into how this money is being spent.”

Last year Charlie McConalogue, the agriculture minister, said he was committed to subsidising the greyhound sector due to its “importance to rural Ireland”. The department did not respond to requests for comment about the attendance figures.