Ireland Irish Game Fair Shanes Castle

[AlbertJ 569]

The organisers of our event at Shanes Castle do not run their dogs nor at Birr does any member of the club who is officiating. If' one was to exclude 'mates' of club members running their dogs then where would one draw the line. I would be greatly against club members showing their dogs because showing is a matter of subjective judging whereas racing is a measure of performance.

 

I had a wry smile when I saw criticism of our events and a little anger at someone criticising the potential farness of potential judges at our events without any real personal knowledge of our events or even who will be line judging! The photo finish we have is for the Master Mc Grath only and was a later addition to the majority verdict in case arbitration was needed over a dispute for what is the largest prize - yes we like to not only have fair judging but to be able to demonstrate fair judging. In fact there has only been one heat that required a majority verdict. There was no dispute- the owner of the 2nd placed dog sporting accepted the decision and that's the way it should be.

 

The line judges are drawn from three different sources - and therefore no one interest group could influence the result. I challenge anyone to say that they have had an unfair line judgement at either Shanes or Birr. AND there is an appeal system at our events whereby if someone wants to complain about the legitimacy of anty decision or competitor they put down a deposit to register that complaint. If the complaint is upheld and a decision reversed they get their money back if not it goes to a charity.

 

We do have KC show classes for whippets AND they are with KC approval and under KC rules in the Open Pedigree Dog Show organised by the NI Gundog Field & Show Society.We do NOT have classes for them in the working dog show. Owners of KC registered whippets asked for a race and as part of the Directors' Special Races we agreed to sponsor one as we genuinely try to be as inclusive as possible.. This is a classification agreed to by us not a KC sponsored or approved race but as the KC is exhibiting at Shanes Castle I am sure they will be able to voice their approval or disapproval.

Edited June 1, 2013 by AlbertJ

[bowersey 59]

Albert can't get that link you put on here to work

[kegs 40]

just on the point of the spat wiyh eddie albert that dog that held your all ireland whippet title was a lurcher and is still running as a lurcher. on the subject of kc papers whos going to verify them because at birr i could of showdx a bit of kitchen roll and raced. this may all soumd like sour grapes and hassle but albert if someone turned up witb a yorkie springer when your new pup starts competing and stuffs it for an all lreland tiyle because its 8 lenghts faster any day of the week how would you really feel. as ive said your support of our end of the game has changed my mind but as i see it at the minute the nilrc is turnin into the new mid antrim but time will tell

[AlbertJ 569]

Kegs,

 

The problem you refer to occurred because of definitions of classes/races. And I am sure you appreciate that no matter what definition you make there will always be people who seek to bend the rules or cheat. At one stage the definition of the races run by the organising club was 'whippet' not defined. Guy claimed it was a 'non ped whippet' and that was accepted rightly or wrongly because the definition of the class did NOT state otherwise.

 

Now if one thinks back to when we ran the first terrier and lurcher show at the fair in 1980. It was run by our operations manager Edie Dash and the Ulster Wildfowl Society. What a great and then quite rare event and no controversy whatsoever. It appears the more we put in and try to cover all opinions the less satisfied people are. It was precisely because of all of these claims and counter claims of cheating that we supported the formation of the NILRC because we thought this would bring some sanity to these disputes.

 

NILRC Rules are as follows :

1/ All dogs to be measured and details taken to be kept in a log book, then graded for Racing.
2/ Ensure all race courses are checked for safety.
3/ Ensure all drags/lures are offset at the end of each race for safety.
4/ Dog catchers to be kept back at the end of race
5/ Any dog seen to be deliberately fighting or baulking will be disqualified and required to do a clearance trial as soon as possible.
6/ Members of the NILRC will be line judges , slip judges and officials at the named shows.
7/ Any early slips will result in disqualification
8/ Marshalls and Line Stewarts decisions will be final
9/ All dogs racing must be muzzled.

 

Now I cannot see how anyone would or should object to such a system of satety and POTENTIALLY fair play being introduced. Obviously such a system of fair play takes time to settle down. I also thought the NILRC classification which now excludes whippets altogether is again POTENTIALLY fair.

 

The one thing the rules do not cover and the one thing I am introducing at Shanes Castle is a system of objections - if someone has a genuine grievance they can make a formal verbal and written objection/ claim by putting down a deposit of £40. If the claim is found in their favour the result will be reversed and their money returned. If it is adjudicated against them the money goes to a charity of my choice. If the matter cannot be settled there and then I will set up a panel including two fair directors and a number of what we consider to be of experts to consider evidence for and against the complaint. If the complaint is upheld the person against whom the complaint is made will be disqualified and banned from competing at our events the following year or depending on the severerity of the event for up to three years. By that stage I hopefully will have delegated dealing with terriers, whippets and lurchers in whatever shape we decide to have them to one of my sons and my three sons all great sports people may be less sympathetic than me !

 

The classifications the NILRC have come up with are the classifications we are running with save where they refer to whippets. I think theses classification will form, over time, a good and workable system but like any new rules take time to settle down. They certainly spread the prizes around a bit and cost us more money!

 

The NIRLC rules and classifications do not now include whippets so I took advice on classifying these and we decided on by size - what we meant was that these classes should be for pure bred whippets - 'non peds' are covered within the lurcher classifications..Then we had complaints about why no class for KC registered whippets, when we put in a race for these now allegations there could be false papers - where does it all end? Whatever rules you put in place there will be people who will try to bend them! Quite simply when one enters the KC registered race one must show the REGISTRATION of the dog not PEDIGREE . If anyone wishes to object to an animal the objection must be lodged as above the day of the race and using the system outlined above.

 

I came on this forum to answer complaints about how the Mid Antrim Club were running our terrier and lurcher events and why the prizes were not as good as for the other country sports events. I have pursuaded my colleagues and sponsors to invest more and more money in the terrier, whippets and lurchers and to give owners a fair crack in all aspects of our events including publicity; good facilities within our shows ; a good prize fund equivalent and overall probably better than some of our other events where any disputes are resolved quickly and fairly without masses of hassle and rules are respected not bent. We also developed overall events such as the Master Mc Grath, and Five Nations to give local competitors the chance of international compatition without travelling. These events also help the entries at qualifying shows. It has not all been bitching along the way as I have met a number of good genuine people who I respect and am proud to call friends. And from those small beginnings in 1980 we have seen shows proliferate all over Ireland but quite honestly I am sick of giving, time, effort and pursuading my colleagues to pour even more money into events which are so riddled with disputes and bad sportsmanship - I do recognise that the numbers may be small but they are highly vocal.

 

Granted decent weather we have put in place potentially the best Irish Game Fair ever for Shanes this year. Our stand bookings closed on Friday with the best selection of stands virtually all with a country lifestyle/sports focus that have ever been put together in Ireland and we also have the best prize fund and attractions planned for any Irish game or country fair ever. I was looking forward to a smooth 'run in' to implement some of the best PR ideas we have come up with and quite honestly we have decided that we have gone as far trying to satisfy terrier, whippet and lurcher owners as we intend to and we will be reviewing the whole area for 2014. Kegs this is not a personal attack on you but we are trying to look forward not back - we can learn from the past we can't or won't live in it. The classifications are as posted. People who would attempt to ban the rules could be disqualified and banned if the complainant is willing to complain and can offer some proof of their complaint which can form the basis of how it can be investigated. Now I invite all you good honest terrier, lurcher and whippet people who simply want to have a bit of fun with your dogs to join us at Shanes Castle, take your rightful place within the overall country sports community and help us fulfill our objective of making your 2013 Irish Game Fair the best Irish game or country fair ever.