'It's been a tough start' - Eade defends Curragh at public accounts body hearing

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) chief executive Suzanne Eade defended the level of public funds invested into the Curragh's €81.2 million redevelopment after accusations of "sloppy" financial management at a hearing of Ireland's Committee of Public Accounts.

Eade, alongside members of the Department of Agriculture and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, faced rigorous questioning from politicians at Thursday morning's Oireachtas meeting, which was held to examine HRI's 2020 financial statements.

A loss of €1.8m was incurred in 2020 related to HRI's investment in the Curragh Racecourse Limited, a company established to provide for the redevelopment and management of the track, following a loss on the same investment of just over €2m in 2019.

This took HRI's cumulative loss arising from the investment to €6.4m by end of 2020 – almost 28 per cent of the amount invested by the body.

Independent TD Verona Murphy questioned the accountability over an "investment that has gone wrong" and accused officials of sloppiness, but the Department Of Agriculture's Martin Burke insisted the Curragh investment remains "a significant asset".

Curragh: welcomed crowd of 11,300 at this year's Irish DerbyCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

HRI entered into an agreement in 2020 to provide a convertible loan of up to €9m to Curragh Racecourse Limited.

Eade said: "The Curragh had to be updated, it definitely did. It had no developments since 1962 and had become uninsurable. When people look at it now, they need to look beyond it as just the racecourse – this is a magnificent training facility as well.

"It really is a strategic asset for Ireland. I know it's not financially performing the way we all want it to be, but this is the first time we've had a facility for Flat racing where we could welcome international visitors comfortably."

Questions were raised over attendance levels at the Curragh, as well as the landscape of Irish tracks in general with crowds down nine per cent for the first half of 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic figures in 2019.

HRI received state funding of €67.2m in 2020, amounting to 71 per cent of its total income for the year.

"The Curragh has had a really tough start," Eade said. "I think operating during development was a challenge. The opening in 2019 probably didn't showcase it at its best and then we've had two years of Covid. It's been tough.

"I'm very much interested in the financial performance of the Curragh. I want it to improve, I want it to see an increase in attendances. They've tried things this year, some have and haven't worked, but I'm all about bringing the spirit back to the Curragh because without that spirit, it isn't what we want it to be."

Suzanne Eade: 'I'm very much interested in the financial performance of the Curragh. I want it to improve'Credit: Oireachtas TV

HRI also came under scrutiny from Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley over a loss of €105,000 on the disposal of around seven acres of
land through a land-swap deal undertaken by Tipperary racecourse in its €18m all-weather redevelopment.

Stanley was animated in describing the loss as a "financial calamity".

Eade, who said she wished to review the circumstances around the land purchases, eventually conceded after back and forth with Stanley that she was "not happy with the way it turned out but happy we've got the land we need to do our [redevelopment], and I didn't pay any additional funding through a swap".

New IHRB chief executive Darragh O'Loughlin was pressed on the lengthy delay over CCTV being installed at Irish tracks by politicians but said he hopes coverage will be in place in 20 of the country's 26 courses by the end of this year.

The remaining tracks will have the technology installed after redevelopment or civil works are completed.

HRI incurred a net loss of €904,000 from racing activities in 2020, on turnover of just under €59m, reflecting "the net impact of Covid-19 restrictions on racing and race attendance, and of Covid financial supports provided."

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