A PROPOSAL that local authority land in Southill or Moyross could be developed as a sports facility for sulky racing received general support at County Hall this week.
Cllr Leo Walsh (FG) told committee members at this month’s Environment Strategic Policy meeting that people in Southill and Moyross have a “great love of horses”.
“You can’t take that love away from them. If you fenced off land in an area like Barry’s Field in Southill, which must be 30 acres, and made it safe it would encourage people who have nothing else to do,” said Cllr Walsh.
“There is lot of green sites that could be used for horses and you could even put in a track for sulky racing,” he suggested.
Fine Gael councillor Stephen Keary supported Cllr Walsh’s idea for a sports facility for horses but said it would need to be very well regulated. He also expressed strong views regarding stray horses and insisted a “zero tolerance” approach was needed.
“Any horses found without microchips should be put down immediately,” Cllr Keary declared.
Despite his reservations, Cllr Michael Collins (FF) also warmed to Cllr Walsh’s idea of sporting facilities for horses on local authority land in the city and county.
“We have to be careful. This is a fantastic idea but people won’t respect it and the Council will be blamed,” he warned.
Meanwhile, Cllr Mike Donegan (FF) told council members that there was a huge issue with stray horses in Kilmallock. These animals, he said, were hindering work being carried out by its Tidy Towns Committee.
“In one black spot, horses are being left in a field overnight in an area that has been pruned and trimmed by the Tidy Towns Committee. This can’t go on any longer. Something needs to be done before September or the whole town will be torn up,” he warned.
Senior executive officer Christy O’Connor said horse owners need to take “ownership of the issues” and to abide by guidelines to ensure their animals had proper passports and were tagged.
“Since January, a significant number of stray horses have been put down in the city. These people might have a great love of horses but it doesn’t show. Even our veterinary officer has expressed lots of concerns and this is an issue we will be coming back to in the future,” said Mr O’Connor.
He said he was aware of the issues regarding stray horses in Kilmallock adding that it was almost an impossible situation for the local authority to enforce.
“The owners of these animals are being tipped off as soon as the Cork-based company contracted to seize stray horses leaves its base for Limerick”, Cllr O’Connor claimed.
