W2C-018 City Tribune Galway-1.txt
Ballybrit defies the odds with £ 1.5m. a day gambling spree

BY Ciaran Tierney

Any talk of recession has been banished from the Ballybrit area this week as huge crowds once again flocked to the annual Galway Races... with £ 1.5million a day being wagered on the course.

With the usual gaggle of celebrities, politicians, serious punters, and tricksters, rubbing shoulders with ordinary racing enthusiasts, the annual festival retained its unique atmosphere, with the fine weather of the past two afternoons ensuring bumper crowds again at the race course.

Aggregate Tote figures have been down each day on last year's record figures, but it's been a very successful race meeting with huge sums of money changing hands on the course over the four days so far.

Indeed, the Galway Races have proved once again that they are virtually recession-proof by managing to attract big crowds once again despite a summer which has seen a significant slump in the number of Irish tourists visiting the West on short breaks, due to the poor weather experienced since May.

The crowds were down a little on previous years for Wednesday's Galway Plate but, whether it was the Guinness Hurdle or Ladies Day that attracted them, punters certainly thronged the course yesterday.

Tote figures for both of the main days, Wednesday and Thursday, have been down considerably on last year - but those in the know have discounted this as a significant trend as bookmakers on the site pulled in over £ 1 million in bets on both days.

Wednesday's Tote aggregate was £ 441,465, down almost £ 42,000 on 1992, while yesterday's aggregate rose to £ 489,233, which was down £ 64,672 on last year. But with the bookies estimated to have handled approximately two and a half times the amount gambled with the Tote there was no shortage of money in circulation.

Racecourse manager John Moloney said this morning that he was very happy with the week's returns so far - and he underplayed the decreases in the Tote aggregates by pointing out that last year's record figures were due to the fact that the Tote jackpots were carried over from day to day.

"We have been very lucky with the weather and Wednesday and Thursday were two wonderful days here," he said. "The crowds have held up this year, even though Monday was wet and Tuesday windy. And I would discount the decreases in the Tote, as there was a huge carry-over last year, while the bookmakers on the site have taken in over £ 1m both on Wednesday and yesterday (Thursday)."

Some pundits joked that a full Cabinet meeting could have been held in the vicinity of Ballybrit earlier this week as there were so many Government Ministers in attendance, including An Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, the Minister for Finance, Bertie Ahern, and Galway's Minister for justice, Maire Geoghegan Quinn.

Other well-known personalities to grace Ballybrit with their presence this week included Paul Hill of the Guildford Four and his American wife, Courtney Kennedy; former Miss Ireland Michelle Rocca; and Alan Sugar, the man who owns top English soccer team Tottenham Hotspur, who made the headlines in the Spring when he sacked popular club manager Terry Venables.

The pattern at Ballybrit, where the crowds are holding up even if there seems to be less cash flowing around, mirrors the pattern for tourism in the West of Ireland this summer.

According to Regional Tourism Manager Brian Flynn the tourism market has held up pretty well even if there are decreases in some sectors, with the bad weather of the past few months in particular to blame for the slump in the number of Irish tourists visiting the region.

"It is very hard to judge crowds of people and whether they vary or not from year to year," he said yesterday. "But our business here is certainly as busy as last year. From the races we are getting a feedback that people are more cautious with their money this year and the spending sprees don't seem to be there, even if the numbers have held up this year."

He said that the numbers of European and British tourists, and returning emigrants, had held up pretty well or even increased this year, but there was a marked decline in the number of visitors from the home market - with the weather a factor in the reluctance of Irish people to take holidays at home this year.

Mr. Flynn pointed out that there was a phenomenal growth in tourism between 1988 and last year, and Ireland West Tourism expected to record a modest growth this year.
