Madam, - A report headed "Only one event at centre this year is equestrian" in your edition of Friday, July 22nd included factually incorrect comments reportedly made by Mr Michael Noonan, TD, regarding the Punchestown Event Centre.
Lest this be presumed by your readers to be true and fair comment, I wish to state the following for the record.
The Punchestown facilities have hosted a number of major agricultural and equestrian events to date this year.
These include: The Irish Garden Machinery Show; the The Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association Show; the Irish National Hunt Racing Festival; the National Dairy Spring Show; and the Kildare Garden Growers Show.
More than 110,000 people attended these events. Very significant economic benefit has been generated for the local and regional economy, across a wide range of business sectors.
It is also fair to say that the indirect revenue generated from these Punchestown events has sustained many small and medium businesses that might otherwise have experienced severe difficulties in an increasingly competitive commercial environment.
The team at Punchestown has focused on developing the event centre into a growing enterprise. Our success is illustrated by the fact that the number of shows hosted at Punchestown has risen year on year with an attendant customer retention rate of 100 per cent.
Punchestown's state-of-the-art facilities are an enduring national asset that will benefit the economy for a generation to come.
This is the context in which we operate the enterprise and build on its success to date. We look forward to welcoming many more exhibitions and shows to Punchestown over the coming years as it continues to play a role in the economic success of this country. - Yours, etc,
LIAM HOLTON
Sales and Marketing
Director,
Punchestown Racecourse
and Event Centre,
Naas,
Co Kildare.