When Paschal Taggart was assessing the chances of Wimbledon being saved as a greyhound track, his most optimistic assessment was “10-1”. It is perhaps interesting then that he believes Harolds Cross is now “4-6 on from 100-1 against.”
The most successful IGB chairman in history was buzzing following Tuesday’s evening’s meeting in Leinster House attended by a mixture of 63 TDs and senators (a very general comparison with British MPs and peers) to consider the current stand-off between the greyhound grass roots and the semi-state Irish Greyhound Board.
The greyhound group wielded Kieran Boles’ marketing plan and a simplified presentation spelling out the numbers and strategy to explain the current plight and options for the future.
Taggart said: “Those numbers, with 12 apologies for people unable to attend, were massive. There is huge concern, across all political parties and among deputies, that something needs to be done. The presentation, described in a positive way as ‘a Ladybird guide to the figures’, kept them all in everyone’s grasp. There is no doubt that this won’t go away. The Government can expect to be bombarded with questions in the Dail about their handling of the greyhound situation all the way through to the Public Accounts Committee hearing at the beginning of May.
“The PAC is extremely powerful and the Board will be absolutely dreading having to justify the shocking way they have been mismanaging this industry. This is all very positive.”
