Football people across Ireland carry scars from the past and are sceptical of a State which continues to lavishly fund greyhound racing.
Gavin Cooney THE FAI HAVE been frustrated at the tone of the Irish media coverage around their successful bid to co-host Euro 2028, and their four hosting partners have been struck by the scepticism here too.
So forgive anyone involved the game who is curious as to how six Euros games at the Aviva will improve their lives on a weekly basis. Plus, that the FAI got to walk out of Nyon as co-hosts of Uefa’s biggest event four years after needing their loans to keep the organisation afloat is a sweet endorsement of collective progress. But there is a daunting amount of road left to travel.
The kind of country, of course, which gave a €6.1 million legacy fund commitment to the FAI on the day its budget approved another €19 million over the next 12 months for greyhound racing, a dying sport that yields few social or health benefits. That’s despite the fact the statue book says the two are linked, the figures being broadly similar year year, and a high-ranking civil servant telling the Oireachtas that the betting tax “forms part of the policy picture that supports the investment” into horse and greyhound racing.
Forget about the World Cup talk that this is rugby country, because at more than €4,000 per head, the State has declared the punter at Youghal greyhound stadium the most valued sports fan in the country.
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