Greyhound Racing Ireland has published a new five‑year Strategic Plan for 2025–2029 that seeks to “re‑emerge” the sport on firmer commercial, welfare and governance footings after the dual shocks of COVID-19 and sustained scrutiny on animal welfare.
The document focuses on four pillars: Animal Welfare and Transparency; Organisation and Industry Sustainability; Sport Access and Public Excitement; and an Enhanced Operating Model that is intended to make the previous three deliverable.
Chairperson Patrick Flanagan frames the plan as a bid to make RCÉ “a global exemplar in welfare, regulation and industry development.”
At the same time, CEO Tim Lucey promises a more data‑rich traceability regime, tougher transparency, and a sharper commercial edge across stadia, with Shelbourne Park highlighted as a flagship for redevelopment and a three‑year commercial strategy to 2027.
Pillar 1: Animal Welfare and Transparency
The first and most prominent pillar aims to make Greyhound Racing Ireland synonymous with international best practices in animal welfare, backed by Phase 2 of the traceability system, which incorporates veterinary data, vaccinations, health checks, and welfare inspection outcomes.
Quarterly welfare reports, enhanced education programmes for owners, trainers and breeders, and closer collaboration with domestic and international counterparts are all flagged.
The body also wants to engage the Government on ensuring penalties act as meaningful deterrents for welfare breaches. Performance will be tracked through a suite of KPIs, including the number of tests and adverse findings, inspections, injuries, and rehoming figures.
The plan emphasises regular, stadium-by-stadium reviews of welfare statistics and racing surface quality — a clear indication that welfare scrutiny will be implemented locally, not just centrally.
The plan also commits to growing the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust (IRGT) as a “trusted institution” that supports dogs long after their racing careers, with an explicit action plan to follow.
Pillar 2: Organisation and Industry Sustainability
Acknowledging persistent dependence on Exchequer support, the new strategy places financial realism at the core of Pillar 2.
Each stadium (or cluster) will be given P&L accountability, with management tasked to improve revenues, efficiency and profitability — and with the clear warning that stadia unable to meet sustainability thresholds may be earmarked for alternative uses.
The plan explicitly references the Indecon “Independent Strategic Review of Irish Greyhound Racing Stadia” (2020) as still-valid guidance on attendance, proximity/clustering, catchment demographics, infrastructure need and commercial potential.
Commercially, the plan points to innovative Tote offerings, learnings from international racing codes, and a more deliberate optimisation of “media and spectator racing” to match the specific strengths of individual venues.
It also provides for capital investment, with provision flagged for Kilkenny Stadium’s redevelopment, and calls for partnerships to unlock mixed-use, non-race day income streams from Greyhound Racing Ireland assets. The long‑term ambition is to reduce reliance on Government funding by both regrowing revenue and sharpening cost discipline across the ecosystem.
Pillar 3: Sport Access and Public Excitement
The third pillar zeroes in on rebuilding the sport’s social licence and broadening participation.
Greyhound Racing Ireland plans to assign local accountability for each stadium’s relationship with its community, partner with community groups, and promote syndication to bring a younger generation into ownership.
Trialling new betting formats (within the evolving gambling regulatory framework), adding other forms of entertainment on race nights, and professionalising race‑night presentation (punctuality, trainer/sponsor presentation standards) are all on the to‑do list.
Marketing is to be data-led and externally supported: The body will build internal capability while leaning on PR and marketing agencies, tracking ROI, sentiment, satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores to measure what actually moves the dial.
Pillar 4: An Enhanced Operating Model
If the first three pillars are the “what”, Pillar 4 is the “how”.
The plan promises a comprehensive organisational restructuring, a refreshed performance management system, KPIs embedded across the business, and a step‑change in the use of ICT, data analytics and management information.
A people and culture strategy, with targeted operational and technical training and key hires, sits alongside an explicit review of staff culture and aligned goals. The message is clear: execution discipline will be the difference between a glossy plan and measurable impact.
Beyond 2029
The strategy also sketches a longer‑term vision. Among the post‑2029 ambitions are establishing an Irish greyhound racing stud book, scaling the IRGT, and executing major partnership-led redevelopments to maximise stadium utilisation beyond racing — all intended to hard‑wire sustainability into the model.
Climate Action, CSRD and Governance
The sport explicitly aligns with the New ERA Climate Action Framework and signals that climate risks are embedded in its corporate risk register.
It pledges progress on circular economy, biodiversity, green procurement and readiness for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) “insofar as it may apply”.
For stakeholders – Government, communities, sponsors and fans – this is an important signal that environmental stewardship will become a reporting and operational priority, not a footnote.
Implementation: Annual Plans, Time‑Bound Milestones, and a Shelbourne Park Commercial Blueprint
The document promises not just a plan, but a plan to implement the plan: annual business plans to embed the pillars into day‑to‑day operations, time‑bound goals and milestones, and a focus on internal and external accountability.
A three‑year commercial strategy for Shelbourne Park (2025–2027) will be used as a template to roll out across all stadia, signalling the centrality of that asset to the industry’s future.
The Strategic Plan is ambitious, occasionally blunt, and notably operational. Its success will rest on whether the different elements of the organisation can execute at speed, communicate transparently, and bring participants, communities and critics with it.
The KPIs — welfare, attendance, profitability, sentiment — are now on the table. The next five years will show whether the sport can turn them into a story of renewed trust and sustainable growth.
Download the Full Strategic Plan here.
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