HRI chief Kavanagh cheered by recent Brexit talks breakthrough

Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh has taken encouragement from this month's agreement that Brexit talks can move on to a second phase and reiterated that Europe's major racing powers were committed to working together.

Kavanagh has previously described a hard Brexit as "potentially catastrophic" with up to €230 million a year generated for the Irish industry in bloodstock exports alone through sales to the UK.

Free movement of horses between Britain, Ireland and France had been enshrined in the Tripartite Agreement but that ends once the UK leaves the EU.

There had also been concerns about the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic and what it would mean for Northern Ireland's two racetracks, Downpatrick and Down Royal, and the trainers based there.

However the joint report published by the UK and EU negotiators this month included commitments to there being no hard border.

Kavanagh said: "The main encouragement is that the Brexit talks are moving on from the first phase towards the second phase, which I think is where everybody wanted to get to.

"We got a good degree of comfort out of the announcement that we'll come to some sort of solution which will mean there won't be a return of a hard border between north and south.

"How that is squared with the UK being outside the single market or the customs union is a different issue, and that is what one needs to tease through, but at least we're now in a position where we can start thinking about practical solutions or practical consequences to the situation."

Kavanagh said he was pleased the subject of Ireland would remain on the agenda in the second phase of the talks.

He added: "There was also mention of the position of the UK as a land-bridge to Ireland. That fitted right into our concerns about the movement of broodmares to an Irish stallion from France or Germany.

"They can't come direct so they come through the UK, and obviously some cognisance taken of that would be necessary."

Kavanagh also took encouragement from the idea of "regulatory alignment" between the UK and the EU's single market mentioned in the joint report.

"Britain adopts some of the highest health standards for horses in the world so there's absolutely no reason why, from a regulatory point of view, Britain, Ireland and France should be in any way divergent in horse welfare and horse health," he said.

Kavanagh said Ireland, Britain and France would continue to work together to "achieve as positive an outcome as we can".

However, he added: "While there are some optimistic signs, it is still a negative scenario because the status quo was the best option of all.

"That's not going to happen so we'll try to work out the least-worst solution around that."

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