Noel Meade: ‘No campaign ever existed in the IRTA to oust Chris Gordon’

Noel Meade, chairman of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA), denied in the High Court on Thursday the existence of a campaign to remove Chris Gordon from his position as head of security within the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB).

The court was also told that a contentious Irish Field article published in August 2014, in which Meade accused inspectors of behaving in an unprofessional manner during unannounced yard visits, did not relate to Gordon, who initiated defamation proceedings against the IRTA almost six years ago.

Instead, Meade claimed his comments were aimed at Department Of Agriculture inspector Louis Reardon, who was present along with Gordon during the contentious inspection of Liz Doyle’s premises in March 2014, which has been a catalyst for the legal dispute.

Meade also claimed that at Downpatrick racecourse the day after the article was published he made Declan Buckley, deputy head of security at the IHRB, aware that the comments were geared towards Reardon.

Meade claimed: “I made it my business to see Declan Buckley, who is Chris’s understudy, and he was at Downpatrick that day.”

He added: “I met Declan and I said to him, ‘Declan, there’s an article in the Field and I just want you to know, I wasn’t talking about anyone in the Turf Club.

“His reply to me was, ‘Noel, I know exactly who you were talking about and, between me and you, you were right.”

In the same article, it was inferred that Meade took exception to what was described as "Little Hitler Syndrome" on the part of inspectors.

Although the phrase "Little Hitler Syndrome" did not appear in quotation marks, Meade admitted: "I'd say I said it.”

Meade, who was the first witness called by the IRTA on day 15 of the trial, claimed the only thing the organisation was guilty of was fighting for justice on behalf of Doyle.

Liz Doyle: an inspection of her premises in March 2014 has been the catalyst for the legal disputeCredit: Patrick McCann

“From the first time I spoke to Liz I believed her. I still believe her," he said. "From that day until now, all we have ever done is to try and get justice for Liz. We have never tried to defame anybody.”

He added: “All we needed was some justice for Liz. That's the only thing our association has done. If we're guilty of anything, that's what we're guilty of.”

Meade also told the court that he welcomed random stable inspections as it helped create a level playing field within the training ranks.

He told the court: “A lot of this trial seems to be about what has been going on with inspections. We have no problem with inspections. In fact, we welcome inspections.

“We want to know that everybody is playing off a level playing field. There has been a lot of nonsense spoken at this trial that we want to get rid of inspections. That's madness. We're delighted with the inspections.”

The case continues on Friday at 11am when Meade will be cross examined on his evidence.

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