In The Irish Times last Monday, Brian O’Connor, the paper’s racing correspondent, highlighted a problem that has been looming for Irish racecourses for several years.

There are 26 racecourses in Ireland, two north of the border. All are allocated a share of the 390 racing days per annum and each track enjoys subvention from a State body, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI).

There are just 15 days per annum for the average track when they can open for business and generate box office revenue – some get more than 15 days, some fewer, but operating costs are 365 days a year.

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There are disputes about the allocation of fixtures and some in the industry complain that 26 is too many racecourses in a small country.

The all-weather track at Dundalk is inconvenient for many and a new all-weather is under construction in Tipperary, a better location. If there were fewer tracks, the economics would improve for the survivors.

Fortunately for the racecourses, HRI provides generous grants for prize money from the Horse and Greyhound Fund, split 80/20 in favour of horse racing and the destination of the tax on betting. O’Connor notes that each track has another important source of revenue.

Gambling

They receive €47m per annum from the TV companies and streaming services, reflecting the historical importance of horseracing as the principal medium for gambling with the bookies.

There are two problems: the betting tax revenue has weakened and the fund has to be topped up with Exchequer money, while other sports would like a share, arguing that the current tax rate of 2% is low and ought to be increased.

Part of the reason is the growing importance of football as a betting medium. On some estimates, football now accounts for around half of betting turnover, mostly online, in both the UK and Ireland. The online bookies are also pushing pure casino games where there are no tiresome rights-holders lobbying for a slice of the action.

Football betting is also emerging as the entry drug for pre-teenagers into problem gambling and the online companies are well aware of this.

Attending some underage matches during the winter, it was noticeable that the 11- and 12-year-olds betting on their smartphones were gossiping about Arsenal’s prospects rather than the form guide for Roscommon’s meeting the following week.

If the betting tax is increased, it does not follow that the proceeds will be deployed to benefit the racecourses, given the lobbying by other sports for taxpayers’ money.

One of the enduring political problems in the Republic is the unaffordability of housing to buy or to rent, especially for younger workers, and the congestion problems that follow as urban sprawl forces city employees into more distant locations.

Golf courses

The gap between supply and demand is greatest in Dublin and attention has begun to turn to the substantial tracts of undeveloped land, some of which belongs to public authorities, available for housing if the obstacles to zoning could be overcome.

There has already been housing development on the site of the former Dún Laoghaire golf club, with the golfers relocated to a new facility further out. There are other golf courses for which more valuable uses could be found, including Clontarf and Elm Park.

Golf courses are often around 100 acres, the best ones a little more, and their current locations reflect the land-use alternatives of long ago, in the late 19th century when they were established. Nobody could justify the opportunity cost of 100 acres for a centrally located golf course in today’s market, it is a historical accident that they have survived in such prime locations.

Racecourses are bigger than golf courses, usually taking up twice the acreage, but equally profligate in their utilisation, exacerbated when racing is scheduled so infrequently.

It would be surprising if not a single official in the Department of Finance had failed to notice that Leopardstown is 220 acres, belongs to the State and is located close to the Luas green line and the M50. Baldoyle was a popular track too, as was Phoenix Park.

The Government is supposedly committed to something called the Transit Oriented Development (TOD), building more housing at higher densities close to existing public transport facilities. No significant zoning action has been taken and Leopardstown must be on somebody’s hit list whenever the TOD aspiration becomes actual policy.

The Department of Finance commenced its efforts in the late 1980s to dislodge the military from Cathal Brugha barracks in a Dublin 6 location of 54 acres and walking distance from central Dublin.

All other Dublin barracks (there were six at one time!) have been developed or re-purposed. The horse racing fraternity is in no imminent danger of losing Leopardstown but the Department of Finance will stay the course.