IGOBF AGM 2024 Minutes

Media, Meeting Minutes, News

The AGM of The Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation was held at Thurles Greyhound stadium on Wednesday 26th June 2024 at 8pm. 

 IGOBF AGM Agenda  

1. Secretary’s Report – Deirdre Leahy 
2. Treasurer’s Report – Susan Hayes 
3. Chairperson’s Report – Damian Matthews 
4. Election of Officers. 
5. Presentation to Helen Morris. 
6. Motions open to the floor. 
7. A.O.B. 

Secretary’s Report  

Apologies from Jeanie Comerford, Theresa Houlihan, Cian Mulrooney and Susan Hayes. 

In the year 2023/2024 The IGOBF have over 1,600 paid members representing ten GOBAS.
The ten affiliated GOBAS are 

1.Kilkenny GOBA 
2.Tipperary GOBA
3.Lifford GOBA 
4.Drumbo/Northwest GOBA 
5.Limerick and Clare GOBA 6.Western GOBA/Galway
7. Northern GOBA/Brandywell/Derry 
8. Kerry GOBA/ Tralee
9.Wexford GOBA/Enniscorthy 

10.Waterford GOBA 

The 2023 AGM was held in The Kileeshin Hotel in Portlaoise on March 29th. 

Just a brief rundown on some of the activities that The IGOBF have been involved in the past year. 

The IGOBF sponsored the National Puppy at Shelbourne Park for the 4th year in succession. 

The PRO Jeanie Comerford is very active promoting greyhounds and greyhound racing to the younger generation. 

The Junior Nominator competition for The BoyleSports 2023 Derby has been a great way to promote greyhound racing and it is published on The Sporting Press and social media on Irish Greyhounds Sunrise to Sunset channels. 

Jeanie has also organized Hallowe’en and Christmas children’s competitions and most recently has run weekly Support the Oaks competitions which have been featured on The Sporting Press and on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok.

A lot of work and organization goes into these promotions, and it provides very positive publicity for greyhounds and greyhound racing with very good viewing figures across all the social media platforms. 

The IGOBF Derby Buster in 2023 was won by Olivia Jackson in County Wicklow. 

A Greyhound Trainer’s talk re Gut health was organized at Shelbourne Park. 

We had many long months waiting for the appointment of a new CEO and eventually on February 15th where four of The IGOBF representatives met the new CEO Tim Lucey in Dublin. A constructive meeting took place and the report on the meeting is published on The IGOBF website.

This was followed up with a second meeting on 28th May 2024 when the GRI Executive met with The IGOBF Representatives,  Damian Matthews, Deirdre Leahy, Geoff Parnaby, Brendan Maunsell and Tom Caffrey. Damian Matthews will be brief you on that meeting in his Chairman’s report. 

Treasurer’s Report  

Chairperson’s Report  

Damian Matthews welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked all who attended. 

He detailed the issues The IGOBF discussed with GRI on 28th May. A full report of that meeting will be published by GRI. 

The specific issues raised by The IGOBF at the 28/5/2024 meeting included; 

 1.Prizemoney  

The IGOBF asked for more transparency into the distribution of extra prizemoney. 

The grassroots are struggling financially to keep going considering  current rising costs and GRI prizemoney increase, as per John Tuohey’s (Chief Financial Officer) financial assessment, doesn’t appear to be anywhere near keeping up with inflation.

2. The Strategic Plan

The IGOBF thanked GRI for including IGOBF in the strategic plan, acknowledging it as a positive  step forward and expressing appreciation for their involvement.  

3.Track Maintenance  

The IGOBF raised concerns about ongoing welfare issues related to track maintenance. A new tool has been introduced for track upkeep, but there is a lack of transparency regarding the results of the tests conducted on the track. Greyhound owners and breeders have reported  that they are not seeing any tangible benefits from these tests.   

The IGOBF then requested that GRI commit to scheduling weekly maintenance checks for each track.  

IGOBF asked for a commitment be given to include private tracks in this and also highlighted  immediate attention be given to Waterford circuit. 

GRI reassured on both issues. 

 4. Prize money, racing/novice racing, entry fee process.

The IGOBF recommended that the length of time from grading to first race should be put back to 6 weeks for ON1 pups and separately the length of time from grading trials for ON2 and ON3 should be 4.5 weeks (31 days) as dogs grading in midweek have in effect only 3 weeks presently. 

GRI committed to addressing this matter. 

Derek Frehill agreed to discuss Special Event Grant allocations with Tom Caffrey when 2025 prize money budget was being prepared with view to giving private tracks some flexibility in allocation of grant to stakes over the year. 

Regarding prizemoney, a portion of the overall funding comes from the government.Currently, there are no available funds to increase the prizemoney for 2024. 

 5. SIS Racing                                                                             

There is a place for SIS racing and there are some tracks e.g. Lifford where it would bring obvious benefits. The IGOBF expressed concerns about the potential long-term impact of SIS, stating that they are not  adequately rewarded for their efforts. While they recognize the benefits of SIS at certain tracks and times, they do not see the value in sacrificing regular race nights for SIS race nights in the long run. The IGOBF urged GRI to consider attendance figures and strategically determine the best path  forward.  

6. Barking Buzz platform.                       

The IGOBF again highlighted the importance of improving Barking Buzz. The IGOBF suggested GRI take this opportunity to look into creating their own, subscription– based channel, similar to RPGTV to raise new revenue rather than accepting the cancellation of RPGTV as a loss. 

7. Rehoming and IRGT                                                        

The chief outlet for retired greyhounds is currently the USA where there is plenty of demand for greyhounds to adopt. There will be costs involved but the industry will have to address this. The IGOBF expressed concerns regarding IRGT’s stance on the age of certain dogs being accepted by IRGT for rehoming highlighting the need for stricter policies as the current framework appears ineffective. It is unacceptable in our view to be rehoming for example ten– year old broods from a small minority of people who expect IRGT to take them. The IGOBF emphasized the necessity for well-defined processes and the establishment of a communication  channel. Additionally, The IGOBF proposed the creation of a database where individuals can select criteria  such as the colour of the greyhound and gender. Overall, the IGOBF stressed the importance of  implementing a solid strategy to address these issues effectively. 

 8. Illegal Substance Testing  

 The IGOBF suggested a revaluation of how the procedure is handled.

The IGOBF put it to GRI that thresholds for “adverse finding” need be below what is a stimulant level as opposed to substantially below stimulant level. In certain instances, the thresholds are below those expected of an Olympic competitor, this brings adverse analysis findings when there is no stimulant effect. 

9. The Feeding of Category 2 meat to racing greyhounds.  

The IGOBF stated clearly that Cat 2 meat is the main source of protein and essential in a thriving and competing greyhound and that it is not financially viable, on current GRI prizemoney structure to feed racers on non-cat 2 meat. 

10. Breeding Trends 

GRI noted that there are currently no challenges with racing pools. Therefore, they likely do not see a requirement for breeding incentives currently and didn’t seem concerned with reduction in breeding levels especially in 2023.  

IGOBF stressed that any reduction in breeding takes close to 2 years to affect the racing pool and 2023 breeding levels will not impact until late 2024 and 2025.

11. Welfare – kennel inspections protocols  

Significant progress is being made with routine welfare issues, and the vast majority of inspections are successful with approximately 90% of individuals passing their inspections without any issues.  

The IGOBF suggested information regarding these 90% successful welfare inspections be published. 

 12. Track Promotions   

The IGOBF asked for private tracks to be included in GRI’s promotion of tracks on social media platforms as this in turn promotes the industry as a whole.

Election of Officers – 

Nominations Received:- 

Chairperson – Damian Matthews 

Vice-Chairperson – Theresa Holohan 

Secretary – Deirdre Leahy 

Assistant Secretary-Tom Caffrey 

Treasurer – Cian Mulrooney  

Assistant Treasurer-Susan Hayes 

PRO – Jeannie Comerford 

Trainer’s Rep- Brendan Maunsell 

Presentation To Helen Morris 

Following the election of officers Damian Matthews thanked longtime member and supporter Helen Morris for her dedicated  service on behalf of The Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation. Furthermore, he announced that Helen Morris was now an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Federation and he called on Geoff Parnaby to make the presentation. A round of applause was given and Mr Geoff Parnaby, chairperson of Tipperary GOBA made the presentation. 

 Meeting Opened To the floor 

 The meeting was then opened to the floor and the following are some of issues aired by attendees. 

 “We are all volunteers in the GOBAS and giving up our time freely and it is frustrating to be repeating the same issues over and over,in particular these issues…..no increases to prizemoney, track maintenance, barking buzz, the distribution of the SIS prizemoney,a new business plan and appointment of the new chairman of GRI. Is there a better route to make our concerns heard? 

Because there is disillusionment that we aren’t being listened to and that our sport is going to decline further.” 

“I have concerns that the greyhound Fostering home services in its current form is costing the industry a fortune and is unsustainable and the reality is that those looking after retired greyhounds waiting to go on flights to USA are getting paid more than most trainers who are training dogs for racing. Savings with longterm fostering costs would pay many flights.” 

“We need change and improvement at Shelbourne Park because a lot of things could be managed better than it is at present.” 

“Reward the owners that keep their own retired dogs. Be that for the short term whilst awaiting adoption or for the remainder of their lives. A common-sense approach and a small bit of appreciation and even token remuneration would go a long way.” 

“Every single track should have their own rehoming centre and a contact for rehoming and a benefit meeting held once a year would go a long way towards financing the kennel that could take the retired dogs until they go for adoption.” 

“GRI gave Lifford a license to operate but they aren’t financially supporting them, and it would benefit Lifford to have an SIS meeting, but do they have the pool of dogs? It would be possible if there was consultation with the greyhound owners.” 

“The SIS contract is being renewed presently and we are told the Irish SIS product is very attractive for the betting companies so why can’t we negotiate a much better deal and get more remuneration for our product “ 

“Nobody but nobody agrees with the new system of distribution of SIS prizemoney whereby the extra money is taken from the winner and second place. What are IGOBF doing to address this? It’s causing a huge amount of anger and there’s no consultation from GRI” 

 **”Could we have an open letter similar to one written in the UK that is signed by everyone that is a stakeholder?” 

[Agreed to be given consideration] 

“There are several issues at Shelbourne Park, and they are the most serious issues of any track and need to be sorted because Shelbourne is our flagship stadium. The tote pool at Shelbourne Park is a massive revenue earner for our industry and brings in many multiples of the tote earnings at all of the other tracks combined” 

Damian Matthews acknowledged the frustrations and genuine concerns felt by all and asked the attendees not to become disillusioned. 

He also thanked Jackie Cahill TD for his help with several issues most notably his recent helpful intervention to help keep Lifford track open. 

IGOBF have to get our concerns heard and addressed by the Board of GRI. 

The best way forward is to get representation of industry stakeholders on the Board of GRI similar to HRI.. 

There is a general election coming up in the next few months and we will need all our members to unite behind IGOBF and the Industry and go to their local politicians and ask the politicians to support the greyhound fund and greyhound owners nationwide. 

And this is what The IGOBF would like everyone to say.