Ireland 23-5 Britain.

A winning margin of 18 was bigger than the one the Irish rugby team managed over England on Saturday, and you saw how dominant Johnny Sexton and the lads were.

Rachel Blackmore’s six Cheltenham Festival winners was a total bettered only by Ruby Walsh before, Henry de Bromhead took his own triple crown in securing the winners of the three biggest races of the week and somehow Willie Mullins still scooped the leading trainer award for the eighth time.

The British were left dumbfounded and such a beating should lead to serious questions, but Irish brilliance is the story here and it must be somewhat surreal to older patrons of the sport, who can clearly remember when one Irish winner at Cheltenham was deemed a big success. How did we get from there to here?

Barry Maloney, owner of Gold Cup winner Minella Indo, offered his perspective on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday show, saying: “Ireland has a smaller economy than Britain but it has been growing and I think people were lucky enough to make money in different phases of life so we were able to keep horses here.

“The other thing that has been critical is the Government’s support for racing in Ireland. They have been phenomenal. I heard some of the stats that for every euro they’ve invested, they’re getting a return of thirty-odd euro back because Ireland is and always will be a horse racing country.

“I think that payback in terms of employment, infrastructure, the breeding, the point-to-point, all the way through.

“Hats off to the Government and through them Horse Racing Ireland for continuing to support the industry because that’s why we’re getting results like we are this week.”

Maloney’s Minella Indo was one of 13 winners at Cheltenham sourced from the Irish point-to-point sector. Indeed, even Shishkin, the most significant British winner of the week, was an Irish pointer previously.

This grassroots sector is pivotal to Irish success at Cheltenham and elsewhere and should go a long way to illustrating the significant damage imposed by the current stoppage of point-to-point racing.

Point-to-point fixtures were postponed in early January and an early April comeback is looking less likely as the days pass.

There has been some respite granted by extra fixtures being added on the track, but there is significant worry present that the loss of fixtures could have a lasting effect on the point-to-point community.