The appointed examiner to Horse Sport Ireland has told the High Court he was aware the company performed a very important function within the equestrian industry in Ireland.
“I understand that the sport horse industry is worth in excess of €1 billion annually to the Irish economy and supports upwards of 20,000 jobs,” chartered accountant Joe Walsh told Judge Micheal O’Connell on Monday.
“Horse breeding in Ireland is world renowned and is a significant export business, with the majority of breeders selling horses outside the country.”
Walsh said he agreed with an independent expert’s view that Horse Sport Ireland was salvageable.
Ross Gorman, counsel for the examiner, said Walsh, as interim examiner, had engaged with the company, its directors, senior executives, employees, creditors, Revenue, its banker and other stakeholders.
He believed Horse Sport Ireland had a reasonable prospect of survival based on constructive engagement with the Department of Agriculture, which was attached as a notice party to the company’s petition for examinership.
Arthur Cunningham, counsel for the company, said Horse Sport Ireland directors had applied for examinership when it had become clear it was unable to meet its debts and had sought the appointment of Walsh.
Cunningham countered suggestions by Bernadette Quigley, counsel on behalf of the Irish Horse Board Co-Operative Society, which is owed €122,600, that the company had rushed towards examinership.
He said settlement in separate legal proceedings had been entered into in June. In early July the company had sought the advice of Graham Kenny Solicitors and an independent expert on its solvency and had proceeded from there to seek the protection of the court from its creditors.
People who would never normally get bail are walking free because of the legal aid row
The society did not oppose the appointment of the examiner but expressed doubts about payment of its debt. The Show Jumping Association of Ireland also did not oppose the appointment, but on the basis that changes would be made in the governance of Horse Sport Ireland.
Shaula Connaughton Deeny, counsel for Revenue, told the court the commissioners were not opposing the appointment of Walsh but were reserving their position on Quigley’s submissions for the protection of payment of the Irish Horse Board Co-Operative Society debt. Quigley said she had engaged with Walsh seeking her client’s debt to be transferred to a special category.
Appointing Walsh as examiner, the judge adjourned the proceedings until early October.
The company, which employs 47 full-time workers, is highly dependent on grants from the Department of Agriculture and Sport Ireland which, alone, had funded it to the tune of €2.1 million for 2026.
The High Court had been told that historically the company had nominal reserves to insulate it against any trading issues or significant trading losses, but had recently been hit by sizeable legal costs arising from defamation proceedings.
It was revealed that the company had incurred costs of €1,581,995 in relation to the development of software programmes as at the end of June 2026 and had ongoing obligations in relation to pension and payroll.
Independent expert Cormac Mohan of AAB Ireland had stated that the formulation, acceptance and confirmation of proposals for a scheme of arrangement, in conjunction with the introduction of additional capital or support of the department and Sport Ireland, would offer a reasonable prospect of survival.
The company was confident that these conditions could be met and the directors believed the examinership process would afford a reasonable prospect of trading successfully into the future and preserve the existing jobs.