The Bord na gCon have run-up a bill of
€47,831 on public relations advice for just the first
five months of 2017 to "manage the message" of transparency.
Looking through the Trainer Bios page(or see the PDF)of the go greyhound racing website from the Bord na gCon, it would appear the message is well managed. However, for the sake of transparency, Irish Greyhound Spotlight takes a closer look at some of the trainers proudly listed on the Trainer Bios page, along with a few other trainers/owners that the Bord na gCon enjoys the company of.
Live-Baiting company
Proudly listed in the Bord na gCon Trainers Bios page is Owen McKenna. This is despite his involvement in live baiting filmed by the BBC and highlighted by MP's in a greyhound welfare debate in 1994(see column 118). Twenty years later, McKenna's act was mirrored by kennelhand Christopher Connolly in 2014 in Australia. Connolly was given a life-time-ban of working with greyhounds in Australia in June 2015. Connolly returned to Ireland and gained employment as a kennelhand with greyhounds trained by Pat Buckley(listed in the Trainers Bio)as early as July 2015. Bord na gCon Chairman was happy to be photographed with Connolly following a big win by the-Pat-Buckley-trained Paradise Maverick in 2016 and again in April 2017, following the-Pat-Buckley-trained Bentekes Bocko winning the prestigious competition. IGS wonders if there was a "manage the message" process when Connolly filled in his kennelhand authorisation form.
Shooting company
Bord na gCon are happy to have the returned company of greyhound owner John Corkery. Mr. Corkery was that guy who had greyhounds, Rathluric Sham and Kildangan Dawn, shot and dumped at a quarry in Co. Limerick back in 2012. He was fined a total of €800 for forgery and failures of transfer of ownership notification. Despite never giving the identity of the person(s) he gave his greyhounds to to be shot, the Bord na gCon praised it a successful prosecution. Other greyhound owners have spoken publicly of their knowledge of greyhounds being shot. Owner John Daniels spoke, in 2013, of seeing greyhounds being shot. Still-active-owner Lotte Orum spoke, in 2008, of having met trainers who shoot greyhounds. Lotte co-owns Kiss and Hug with Tony Haugh. They had previously co-owned Bite Me, who has since been homed. Sadly the same cannot be said for the father of Bite Me, Moral Duty, owned by Tony Haugh. Moral Duty was exported to China to be used for breeding.
Sponsorship company
Trainer/owner/breeder P.J. Fahy(listed in the Trainer Bio). Fahy is the owner and founder of EEC Timber, sponsors of races and competitions in Ireland and the UK. Bord na gCon are happy to have his company despite his past of unlawful breeding, registering and racing greyhounds, as IGS had exposed in 2014 after highlighting breeding regulation breaches which were allowed to continue for nine years. Bord na gCon are further happy to keep the company of Dominic Magnone with his sponsorship of races and competitions such as the annual Greyhound & Petworld Golden Muzzle, and the Greyhound & Petworld Supersprint. Magnone was fined £2,700 in 1999 for possession for prohibited substances and jailed in 2002 for repeated offences. Pat Curtin of the Dandelion Bar & Nightclub was another welcomed friend of the Bord na gCon to sponsor races and competitions through to 2015. This was despite Curtin having a past involving the prohibited substance Stanozolol. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain fined and severely reprimanded Curtin in 2009 for a positive sample given by Shelbourne Aston, and again in 2014 for a positive sample given by Kereight King.
Doped company
Other trainers praised on the Bord na gCon Trainer Bios web-page include:
- Michael O'Donovan, who was fined and reprimanded in 2014 for a positive sample given by Laughil George, where the Disciplinary Committee saw O'Donovan took 'an injudicious risk in racing a greyhound during its recovery period, risking its welfare'.
- Graham Holland. On 14th November 2015, four greyhounds being trained by Holland gave urine samples showing prohibited substances. The disciplinary hearing results of the adverse analytical findings were published in May 2016, where Holland was given no case to answer. Holland took steps to change his source of meat supply days after new Bord na gCon advice on feeding meat products, issued on 6th November 2015. The advice given on meat category risks(following 6th Nov 2015)was that a greyhound must be 'free of “prohibited substances”, and the feeding of contaminated meat, whether innocent or not, cannot be a defence at any hearing in that respect'. A month later, on 22nd December 2015, another greyhound trained by Holland gave a urine sample showing the same prohibited substance as had been found in Holland's previous hearing. No disciplinary hearing has been heard, to date of this post, indeed the Bord na gCon have since changed the rules of the drug and(as from March 2017)any outstanding analytical findings would be reviewed by the Bord na gCon, that would otherwise be dealt with by the Control Committee. In November 2016, Holland was awarded Personalty of the Year by the Bord na gCon. On 10th June 2017 Holland-trained Garryvoe Bobby gave a positive urine sample for a prohibited substance, at the UK Derby.
- Peter Cronin, who was fined €500 for a positive sample given by Gyp Rosetti on 18thAugust 2016. Gyp Rosetti, now named Tynwald Gyp, carried on racing regularly following the 18th August sample. IGS are impressed at the speed of the analytical-finding-process in this case. A greyhound is prohibited from racing until a further test is undertaken with negative results. Gyp Rosetti began racing again on 27th August 2016, just in time to continue in the Boylesports Derby. Cronin had earlier trained Dungill Rocket, who had given a urine sample showing a prohibited sample on 14th November 2015. The disciplinary hearing results were published in November 2016, as with Graham Holland, no case was to be answered for Cronin.(within the same disciplinary hearing results the same offence was heard for Neil Conroy, who was fined €100).
- Robert Gleeson, who was fined €100 for a positive sample given by Old Fort Cracker on 26th September 2014. Disciplinary for a positive sample of the same drug in Australia would be treated far more seriously through higher fines and/or disqualifications.
- Paul Hennessy pleaded guilty, in 2007, and was fined after a 'drugs haul' in 2005. In 2006 the Hennessy-trained Heart Rumble was nominated for 'Greyhound of the year' by the Bord na gCon. Heart Rumble tested positive in the UK in 2004 for the banned steroid, nandrolone, after a race in Sunderland. In 2006 Hennessy was embroiled in the EPO/Paschal Taggert controversy, which led to the Tim Dalton report on Certain Matters Affecting Bord na gCon, condemning the EPO controversy: 'The reasons advanced for failing to publish details of the Control Committee findings in the two(EPO)cases......are not at all convincing'.
This is greyhound racing.
