Punchestown owners end land dispute with State

Members of the club that owns Punchestown racecourse have backed a deal that will end an ongoing dispute with the State over lands leased for racing.

At a series of meetings held late last week, members of the Kildare Hunt Club (KHC) voted in favour of a deal between the organisation's officers and representatives of the State body, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI). HRI has been managing the racetrack since 2002, when it took over as part of a joint-venture deal designed to rescue the venue, which was losing €500,000 a year at the time. However, KHC members never voted to accept the deal as a number of them had concerns over leases granted to HRI by way of security for a €1.6 million loan.

That agreement covered Punchestown's entire 189 hectare estate, only one-quarter of which is used for racing. According to the new deal's terms, both parties will voluntarily wind up the existing leases, and instead HRI will receive security over the land used for racing.

Blackhall Racing, which operates the track, will pay a yearly rent of €50,000, which will increase in line with profits. The State company has also agreed to loan Blackhall Racing the money required to repay a €4 million debt to GT Equinus, a company owned by the billionaire Getty family. This is the subject of a court case due to be heard in the new year. GT was due to accept €2.5 million as a full settlement earlier this year, but the dispute between HRI and KHC prevented it from being paid.

However, it is understood that talks between the club and the company are again under way. The Gettys loaned the money to Punchestown under the controversial passports for investments scheme. The boards of the various Punchestown companies, Blackhall, Punchestown Development and Punchestown Enterprises, will have eight members on their boards, with four each nominated by the club and HRI.

All threatened legal action between the parties that arose from the dispute will be withdrawn.

KHC chairman Matt Dempsey and club member, David Mongey, negotiated the deal with HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh and chairman Denis Brosnan.

Mr Dempsey welcomed the vote's result at the weekend. He said that HRI had made a major contribution to Punchestown since coming on board four years ago, and said that he personally would like to see the State body involved over the longer term. Mr Kavanagh welcomed the vote's result.

HRI appointed former Kerry Group executive Dick O'Sullivan as general manager when it moved in in 2002.

Since then, Punchestown has turned around from being a loss-maker to earning profits of around €500,000 a year.

The track is Ireland's premier national hunt jumps venue. Its main meeting is a four-day festival that takes place during the last week in April, that this year attracted record crowds. It hosts high-class jumps racing between autumn and spring every year.