Sport

Fate of Games to be debated in the Dail

THE fate of the 1998 World Equestrian Games will be debated when the Dail reconvenes today after the Easter recess

By GRANIA WILLIS
Tue Apr 16 1996 - 01:00

THE fate of the 1998 World Equestrian Games will be debated when the Dail reconvenes today after the Easter recess. Fianna Fail has tabled a motion to question the Government decision to withhold further funding of the £10.9 million project and it is expected that there will be strong pressure on the Government to reverse the recent decision.

Fianna Fail's David Andrews is to question Enda Kenny, Minister for Tourism and Trade, on the current crisis, requesting him to take immediate action to ensure that the 1998 Games are staged in Ireland.

"I was a member of the last Government which gave support to the staging of the World Equestrian Games in Ireland in 1998. I believe that support was well placed and the Games represent an important opportunity to sell Ireland abroad," Deputy Andrews, Fianna Fail spokesman on Tourism and Trade, said yesterday.

"I will be asking Minister Kenny to give the full facts on the World Equestrian Games and to explain the reasons for his inflexibility and the lack of Government support. I will also be asking him to clarify the State's exposure if the Games do not go ahead."

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WEG Ireland Ltd, the Dublin-based organising company for the 1998

Games, officially ceased trading on April 4th following the Governments announcement that it had capped its funding of the scheme. Bord Failte had paid out £500,000 to WEG Ireland to fund its operating costs during 1994 and 1995 but, following a Cabinet meeting, further monies were denied the company.

A WEG board meeting scheduled for last week to wind up the company was deferred, however, following the offer of a £1 million rescue bid from an unnamed international source.

It is rumoured that the Government may be prepared to change its no-funding stance if a change in personnel can be effected within WEG Ireland. A source close to Government has revealed that confidence in the scheme could be restored if a new management team was brought in to oversee the commercial side of the operation, although it has been suggested that the current team may be retained to organise the equestrian elements of the six-discipline Games.