Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey is to step down from his position at the end of September to take up the same role with Greyhound Racing Ireland.
Mr Lucey, who has spent the past nine years at the helm of the local authority, informed colleagues and councillors on Friday of his plans to move on.
“I am doing so having been offered the position of Chief Executive Officer of Rásaíocht Con Éireann – Greyhound Racing Ireland, formerly the Irish Greyhound Board, and will take up that role later this year,” he said in a letter to colleagues and councillors.
The industry has been the subject of controversy in recent years due to welfare concerns and after an RTÉ documentary about the mistreatment of dogs. The programme highlighted a report commissioned by the Irish Greyhound Board - as GRI was formerly known - which alleged that 6,000 animals are killed per year because they failed to make qualification times or their performances declined. This number was disputed by the industry.
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A native of Bandon in west Cork, Mr Lucey previously served as Cork City Council chief executive prior to moving to County Hall in 2014. He succeeds former WorkandTravel.ie chief executive Dearbhla O’Brien, who took the top job in Greyhoound Racing Ireland in January of last year.
