Harold’s Cross greyhound stadium is to close next year and will be sold by the Irish Greyhound Board in an effort to clear debts of over €20 million.
Board chairman Phil Meaney announced the decision on the Dublin track at an Oireachtas Agriculture Committee meeting yesterday.
“The notion of poorly performing tracks having financial subsidy and support in perpetuity is gone," said Mr Meaney.
"Individual stadia will have to stand on their own two feet and be able to demonstrate a capacity to perform under certain headings.”
“There is likely to be rationalisation of tracks over a period and Harold Cross will be sold at the appropriate time,” he said.
IGB chief executive Geraldine Larkin said that land in Cork and Limerick would also be sold.
“The Irish Greyhound Board cannot keep funding tracks which are not giving a return on money spent. Any decision on future funding will take into account the multiplicity of factors impacting on a stadium’s performance,” she said.
