Dublin City Council has sought additional information on the proposed €100 million development planned by the Royal Dublin Society, it emerged yesterday at the opening of the Dublin Horse Show.
The society had submitted plans to revamp the Anglesea Stand, provide new stabling and upgrade the grounds from funding which would come from five commercial office units it planned there.
However, according to Mr Shane Cleary, the society's chief executive, some local residents and An Taisce have objected to the plan.
Mr Cleary used the occasion of a press conference marking the beginning of the 130th Horse Show to scotch some of the rumours going around about the development.
The Anglesea Stand, he said, was not going to be demolished. It would be renovated and re-roofed, to bring it up to the standards needed in the first part of this new century.
Neither, he said, was the society planning to cut back on stabling. There would be stables available for horses coming to the show well into this century.
"There will be no loss of stables if we get planning permission, but we need that to fund the development, which is part of a 10-year plan," he said.
"The local authority has asked us for additional information, and we are supplying that.
"It is vital that we get that for the long-term redevelopment of the Anglesea Stand, which was built n the late 1930s", he said.
Mr Cleary said that the new plan was necessary to continue with the original mission statement of the society, which was articulated at its first meeting in 1731.
He said the society had been set up to promote good husbandry, and its largest contribution to that now was the Horse Show, which was run at a loss of around € 300,000.
However, as the largest single event staged by the society during the year, this was a very important contribution from the society which now has a prize fund of €500,000.
"The fact that we are now part of the Samsung Super League and one of eight world stages on which the event is based has illustrated the quality of Dublin Horse Show," he said.
This year Samsung, the multinational electronics company, has pumped €350,000 sponsorship into the event, taking over from the Irish Dairy Board, the main sponsor for the last 17 years.
In addition, Fáilte Éireann has come aboard for the first time and has put in €150,000 in sponsorship in recognition of the importance of equestrian sports in Irish tourism.
Mr Cleary said staging the event was very costly. It cost €2,000,000 last year. Insurance costs, he said, had risen dramatically from €150,000 to €500,000 in a period of 18th months.
However, he expressed confidence in the future, not only of the Horse Show, but the society, which has an annual turnover of €10 million and provides nearly €2 million to foundation activities.
He estimated that the site at Ballsbridge was worth at least €200 million euro and, while asset-rich, the society could be making more from it to fund agriculture, science, industry and the arts.
He said that the society had decided it would not be selling any more of its site, and the famous grounds would remain intact.
The Four Seasons Hotel, which is built on the RDS grounds, was being rented on a long lease, and the society received the benefit of that lease as the landlord.