Irish Equine Centre

Lobbying Organisation Irish Equine Centre

Date published 10 Feb, 2020

Relevant Matter Matters involving public funds

Public Policy Area Agriculture

Period 1 Sep, 2019 to 31 Dec, 2019

Specific Details Submission from the Irish Equine Centre in relation to the redevelopment of the existing facility in Johnstotwn, Co. Kildare which are no longer fit for purpose. The submission is requesting financial support from DAFM for the redevelopment costs of c. €22m.

Intended results Financial support from DAFM for the redevelopment of the Irish Equine Centre.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Sarah McNicholas

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (2-5)

Email sent to Rebecca Chapman in DAFM on the 9th October 2019 querying whether there was any update on the funding submission. Minister Creed had mentioned support for the Irish Equine Centre project in a post-Budget press conference the previous day. She replied by phone. A second email was sent to Rebecca Chapman on the 7 November, again querying if there was any update on the response to the submission. Received an email response from Rebecca Chapman on 12 November saying "no news yet".

Event / Reception (1)

Sarah McNicholas attended a dinner in Dail Eireann on 18th September 2019. The dinner was arranged by the Kildare Business Chamber. A large number of business people from Kildare attended. After the meal Sarah spoke briefly with Bernard Durkan (Kildare TD) about the submission the IEC had put into DAFM for the redevelopment of the Irish Equine Centre facility.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Bernard Durkan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)