Horse owners slam Smithfield clampdown

GARDAI,
revenue inspectors, customs officers and social welfare officials are being
urged by Northside horse owners to scale down their policing of the
controversial Smithfield Horse Fair.

Finglas
Horse and Pony Group, which supervises young local horse owners, claims the
heavy multi-agency presence at the market is unfairly targeting law abiding
citizens.

Numbers
attending the monthly market have dropped dramatically recently following joint
operations including vehicle checkpoints manned by gardai and revenue
inspectors.

The
clampdown followed a series of violent incidents, allegations of cruelty from
animal welfare officers and calls for the abolition of the horse trading
market.

Dublin
City Council has been unable to prevent the horse fair taking place due to the
fact that it has proved difficult to circumvent antiquated legislation that was
enacted to establish the market right to the fair hundreds of years ago.

Since
last April gardai have cracked down on the event with massive numbers of
officers patrolling the market to prevent any public disorder.

Their policing
efforts have been combined with those of inspectors from the revenue
commissioners, customs officers and officials from the Department of Social
Protection.

At
recent fairs traders who have been unable to show gardai an ID microchip and
valid passport for each animal have not been permitted entry.

In
addition, officers from the revenue commissioners in conjunction with gardai
have carried out multi-agency vehicle checkpoints on the roads leading into
Smithfield on fair days.

A
spokesman at the Department of Social Protection explained the purpose of the
checkpoints.

“They
facilitate an approach whereby all agencies can comprehensively identify
individuals engaged in vehicle tax evasion, road traffic irregularities or
social welfare fraud in concentrated locations,

? he said.

The
spokesman added that officials from the department had been involved in four
such checks at the Smithfield horse fair recently. Fewer that 50 people
attended September’s fair.

While
the clampdown has been welcomed by those opposed to the fair it has been
criticised by horse owners, including chairperson of the Finglas Horse and Pony
Group, Colm Kiernan.

He said
that he attends the fair mainly to ensure that the young members of the group
comply with the law by bringing healthy and well looked after horses, which
have valid passports and identification.

Mr
Kiernan, who liaises closely with the event’s organisers, said he believes that
gardai are being over zealous in their policing and maintains that the majority
of people who attend and trade horses are honest, law-abiding citizens.

He said
that as a result of the recent crackdown young people who regularly attended
the fair in the past are now being deterred from attending and are staying
away.

“There
are gardai and there are people from the social welfare and customs who are
coming to the fair,

? he said.

“The
people from the Revenue would be asking people for their PPS number and asking
them what does their mother work at and what does their father work at. This
never happened before.

“The way
they are policing the horse fair, the young fellas are not bringing their
horses anymore. The gardai are coming along to young people and asking them all
these questions and the young fellas get a fright.

“If I
was 18 or 19 I wouldn’t like these questions. These young fellas are afraid to
go down there now.

?

Mr
Kiernan added that maintaining the heavy police presence at the fair
indefinitely would be unsustainable.

“We had
a meeting about the horse fair two months ago at the Bridewell [Garda
station],

? he continued.

“I said
it is unsustainable the way the country is to be paying 40 or 50 gardai to
police a fair like this.

?

Dublin
North West TD (SF) Dessie Ellis said he believed that the tactics being
employed by gardai and other Government agencies at the fair would only serve
to alienate those attending.

“My
opinion is that the overbearing level of security is alienating the decent
people who organise the Smithfield horse fair,

? he said.

“There
has been an element that has caused trouble in the past but it is up to the
guards to sort them out.

?

A
spokesman at the Garda press office said:

“Gardaí are deployed to ensure the
safety of those attending and to prevent incidents of violence, public disorder
and anti-social behaviour at these events.

“Local
Garda management is satisfied that an appropriate number of gardai is deployed
to police the events.

?