Or maybe the insurance companies don't want to address them because they're a convenient excuse to raise premiums. Just like 'trouble' at LOI games is a convenient excuse for AGS to increase police presence at grounds.
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Regulate the legal system, stop the single school kings inns monopoly, and impose massive fines/imprisonment for those who flagrantly flout the law.
Insurance companies used to rely on investment portfolios to make their money, not premiums as claims have always driven a hike in Irish insurance companies. the book of quantum is like a comic book these days
Longford Greyhound Stadium closing, citing, in part, insurance costs that doubled in a year: https://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport...unces-closure/
Wonder is it in any related to the "sport" losing a few sponsors after the recent RTÉ revelations? Citing "rising insurance costs" might be an easy way to close down a few of the quieter venues.
Always thought the amount of money being put into greyhound racing was obscene here, but still, there's people out of work as a result of this, so not nice to see.
This is an example of the inherent lack of joined up thinking in sport in this country,so you have a great stadium in Longfords built way out of town and this in a good location now closing! Did nobody ever think of them getting together and upgrading the dogtrack and share with the football team? You'd have the football team able to take on some costs and and be handier for people to get to......
LSPs were set up to do away with duplicating facilities and to promote joined up thinking and generally has worked well for smaller NGBs. Unfortunately the Irish predisposition to be exclusively in control lingers still with some - imo driven by the attitude of an antiquated Athletc Association and often the wagons get circled by governing bodies that find GAA officials so intransigent. The most reluctant feckers to get to co-operate on anything certainly in Louth is the GAA and they are a complete laughing stock both within GAA and generally (would push the FAI for inepptitude and dodgy governance), South Louth GAA people are already talking about boycotts of the new County Ground in Dundalk!! You'd think the County was huge rather than just a 15-20 minute drive between the 2 urban centres.
The old dogtrack in Dundalk couldnt have been any more central. It was used by schoolboy clubs also but that was stopped due to health and safety. Dog owners were asked to lift sh1t from the 'pitch' area at dog meets but basically refused to cooperate. As a multi use facility there was a possibility of funding for ongoing improvements to that facility but when DDSB pulled out funding was also pulled as a single use facility. Track got closed and eventually was factored in to a new development of the Racecourse. But the dog people almost lost out completely. A couple of schoolboy clubs folded as they had no pitch. It's now a shopping centre but no reason an urban park/pitch amenity couldnt have been included in the current developed area bar the lack of ability of some to not be arséwipes.
Its closure has been coming for years. Unlike Mullingar, Dundalk etc it has no restaurant or any modern facilities at all. It was effectively a rusty old shed with a bar that sells a few cans, wouldn't be 50 people at a meeting and both the doubling of insurance and a 20,000 fire safety upgrade were the final nails in the coffin for a track that didn't feature on betting services such as SIS or TRP so it's only income was the very small local sponsorship and tiny gate receipts.
The Donegal track is a bigger shock given its only had a 12 million upgrade in 2003 but again I haven't seen it featured on betting services and gates were obviously minimal so Same issues there.
I know the Donegal track is now up for sale for 1.2 mill, no idea what will happen to the Longford one, it's privately owned.