With Brexit being the word on everyones lips at the moment in Britain, this has now travelled over the pond to Ireland with A no-deal Brexit being "catastrophic" says the country's racing authority, as the movement of horses in and out of Ireland will become a huge issue.
As well as the animals coming in and out of the European country for racing and other activities, the buying and selling of horses is a huge thing for the industry and if this is compromised o changed in any way it will have a huge effect for the Irish economy.
Horse Racing Ireland could be set for one of the biggest shake ups the governing body will ever have encountered if certain things don't go there way during these Brexit Negotiations and they have been working tirelessly to make all parties aware of this.
Theresa May had her Brexit deal defeated in parliament by a majority of 230 votes on Tuesday night which still leaves the country in limbo as to what is actually happening with the Brexit deal.
(Credit At The Races) HRI director of communications Jonathan Mullin has erious concerns for the organisation.
“The movement of horses is the big issue,” he said.
“The main problem from a horse-racing perspective in Ireland, indeed any movement of animals, is there are only two border inspection posts in Ireland -at Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport.
“That’s why a no-deal Brexit is catastrophic in terms of horse movement in Ireland.
“Horses coming into the EU or leaving the EU will have to go into an inspection area to be examined by veterinary authorities. We only have two special posts, because we haven’t needed them. That is our main problem.
“We have been working with our own Government and with politicians and commission members in Brussels. They are all aware of it.
”Mullin is at pains to make sure those with power know how high the stakes may be.
He added: “The Brexit negotiations haven’t reached the trade element yet. Therefore, all we can do at the moment is to make politicians and officials aware of how precarious it is and how important horse movement is for Ireland, for the industry.
“Everyone knows about the headline stuff, the Grand National and Cheltenham, but we export 80 per cent of the thoroughbreds we export to Britain. It’s a huge market for us – and Britain relies heavily on that product to make up the numbers essentially for British racing.
“It is a critical thing, and there is awareness at European Commission level and across the Cabinet table in Ireland.
“Higher politics are still going on – and there isn’t the clarity we need yet.
”Mullin is hoping for a solution before the UK leaves the European Union on March 29.“There are plans to extend the number of border inspection posts – one in Dublin port and one eventually in Rosslare,” he said.
“If we crashed out on March 29, then the racing world would be in trouble in terms of movement.
“We are working very closely with the BHA and France Galop and at European level with all the different authorities.
“The key thing for us is the industry is mostly rural, and the export element of selling horses is a huge part of the Irish rural economy.”
Leading British trainer Nicky Henderson also had his say on the matter very much backing up what Mullin said but also was hugely concerned about the on going stable staff crisis and how Brexit would only make things even worse than they are at the moment in the UK.
(Credit Racing TV) The trainer said: “It’s a worrying situation. I’m no politician, but from racing’s stand there are two major issues as I see it.
“One is the borders – moving horses from A to B between Ireland, England and France. We do that on a regular basis, and if they’re going to sit on the dock sides for hours waiting for paperwork that is going to be an enormous inconvenience.
“Secondly is the issue of stable staffing, and we all rely quite heavily on people from overseas. Whether that includes Ireland, I don’t know, but Eastern Europeans as well.
“I employ a few and I’m worried we might lose them, but even more so I think they are worried that they might have to go back home. That would not only make the situation worse for us, but I don’t think they want that either.”