Funding cut for racing was inevitable - and we should be glad it isn't any worse

When Horse Racing Ireland unveiled its five-year strategic plan on the eve of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, it was defined by some fairly unrealistic ambitions. It was years in the making and the context of its belated delivery after the 2020 general election was crucial.

Fair enough, a strategic plan has to be ambitious, you might say, but the prospect of the formation of a left-leaning government led by Sinn Fein concentrated minds. It was an opportune time for HRI to illustrate its intrinsic value to the economy and unveil its grand plans to advance that worth.

As it turned out, the centre held and produced the current Fianna Fail-Fine Gael-Green fudge, only for the Covid-19 pandemic to then carpet bomb HRI’s best intentions. The timing was unfortunate – or fortunate, the cynics might say, given it immediately gave HRI an oven-ready excuse for not meeting the plan’s most improbable objectives.