Attendance at greyhound tracks around Ireland fell by a massive 24,742 last year, newly released figures reveal.
An analysis of Greyhound Racing Ireland 2024 greyhound track attendance figures conducted by the Irish Council Against Bloodsports (ICABS) has revealed statistics showing that attendance was down at most tracks.
The largest drop in attendance was at Shelbourne Park, Dublin city, which Greyhound Racing Ireland describes as its “flagship stadium”.
Compared to 2023, there was a 9,950 fall in attendance. Limerick Stadium, headquarters of GRI, also recorded a major drop, with 3,568 fewer people attending in 2024.
A further breakdown of greyhound track attendance figures has revealed:
Youghal, Co. Cork, was the emptiest track at races in 2024.
According to the GRI stats, its attendance for the entire year was a mere two (2). It wasn’t specified if this was two individuals attending once or one person visiting twice.
Curraheen Park, Cork city, had an attendance of 29,727 at a total of 102 race meetings, with an average attendance of 291.
Curraheen Park has a stated capacity of “1340 persons, between the ground and first floor” and was therefore around 78% empty on average at race meetings in 2024. It saw a 3,796 drop in entries last year.
Galway stadium had an attendance of 18,293 across 97 meetings, meaning an average of 189 per race meeting. With a capacity of “974 persons, between the ground and first floor”, the stadium was 81% empty on average.
The attendance for Limerick Stadium was just 17,885 over 121 meetings or an average of 147. It has a capacity of “2,012 persons, between the ground and first floor” and was therefore 93% empty on average at race meetings in 2024.
Mullingar Stadium, Co. Westmeath, recorded an attendance of 7,519, and with 150 race meetings across 2024, its average attendance was a mere 50. With a stated capacity of 255 (between its two floors), it was therefore 80% empty on average.
At Newbridge Stadium, Co, Kildare, 50 race meetings, there was a total attendance of 9,703, or 194 on average at each meeting. It has a capacity of 630 (between ground and first floor) and was therefore around 69% empty at each meeting.
Flagship Stadium 84% Empty
At Shelbourne Park in Dublin, the attendance for 118 meetings was 80,745. Greyhound Racing Ireland’s “flagship stadium” has a capacity of “4,200 persons, between the ground, intermediate, first and second floor”, meaning that, on average, it was around 84% empty at race meetings in 2024.
Tralee track, Co. Kerry, had an attendance of 19,940 at 154 race meetings. With an average entry of just 129 and a capacity of 1,310, this track was on average 90% empty.
Waterford track, which has a stated capacity of “450 persons, between the ground and first floor”, was on average 78% empty at its 103 meetings in 2024.
Its attendance stood at 10,085, with an average entry of 98.
The attendance at Clonmel track, Co. Tipperary, was 8,772. There were 105 meetings during the year, meaning its average attendance was just 84. Clonmel track has a stated capacity of 541 and was therefore 84% empty on average.
A breakdown of attendance for Dundalk Stadium, Co. Louth, was not provided by Greyhound Racing Ireland.
The “total attendance” claimed by GRI was 30,140 but this figure includes greyhound owners, greyhound trainers and bookmakers.
The average numbers present at the 101 meetings at the track, including all of these insiders, was 298. Dundalk track has a stated capacity of 3,390 and was therefore over 90% empty on average at race meetings.
Enniscorthy Co. Wexford, “total attendance”, according to GRI, was 21,083.
However, this includes 4,292 entries by greyhound owners/trainers and bookmakers. When these are excluded, the number for the actual attendance drops to 16,791, or an average of 218 for 77 meetings.
At Kilkenny track there was an annual attendance of just 9,631 – that’s an average of 97 people at 99 race meetings.
At Thurles Park track, Co. Tipperary, the figure for attendance was 7,144. There were 48 race meetings, putting the average attendance at 149. This track was 66% empty on average.
No attendance figures were provided for Lifford track in County Donegal so it is unknown how many people attended the 100 race meetings there during 2024.
Track Attendance 2014
The total attendance for the 14 tracks in 2024 (excluding greyhound owners/trainers/bookies) was 266,377. That’s 24,742 less than the corresponding figure for 2023 (291,119).
Excluding free entries by children and promotional entries, the number for paid attendance was even lower at 239,792.
Compared to the previous year, eight tracks out of 14 recorded decreases in attendance in 2024.
They were Curraheen Park (down 3,796), Limerick (down 3,568), Mullingar (down 2,557), Shelbourne Park (down 9,950), Tralee (down 3,772), Youghal (down 4,259), Clonmel (down 2,236), Dundalk (down 628).
Six tracks saw an increase in attendance – Galway (639), Newbridge (55), Waterford (876), Enniscorthy (2,255), Kilkenny (754), and Thurles (1,445).
Track Attendance
Increases in track attendance at certain tracks was due to more children being present, more free “promotional” tickets and more benefit night entries.
Galway track almost doubled the number of “promotional” free entries from 367 in 2023 to 727 in 2024. At Enniscorthy track, 264 promotional entries were given out in 2023, while in 2024, this jumped to 416, with the number of entries by children rising from 3,626 in 2023 to 3,814 in 2024.
Worryingly, a large proportion of attendances at many tracks was made up of minors.
At the 14 tracks, there were 17,366 entries by children. It is understood that this does not include children who entered with “benefit tickets”.
Commenting on the figures, an ICABS spokesperson said, “Growing awareness about suffering and death in greyhound racing is undoubtedly a contributing factor in falling attendances.
“At races around Ireland in 2024, 389 greyhounds suffered injuries and more than half of them (202) were killed. 2024 was the worst year on record for deaths at races. The 389 injuries are the highest since 2016.
“The figures do not include the greyhounds injured at tracks and later killed elsewhere, or the thousands of greyhounds who are killed behind the scenes every year because they are not fast enough to win races.”
ICABS has brought the low level of public interest in greyhound racing and Greyhound Racing Ireland’s inflated, misleading “attendance” figures to the attention of Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe as part of an appeal to him to stop ploughing millions of euros of taxpayers’ money into this unpopular and dying “industry”.
Since 2001, Greyhound Racing Ireland has received €366,986,146 in state funding, including €18.2 million for 2023, €19 million for 2024 and €19.82 million for 2025.
Greyhounds Deaths and Injuries – Irish Greyhound Tracks 2014 to 2024
| Year | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 202 | 389 |
| 2023 | 134 | 257 |
| 2022 | 122 | 287 |
| 2021 | 154 | 351 |
| 2020 | 90 | 255 |
| 2019 | 119 | 332 |
| 2018 | 121 | 353 |
| 2017 | 124 | 357 |
| 2016 | 139 | 427 |
| 2015 | 122 | 422 |
| 2014/June to December | 69 | 266 |
| Totals: | 1396 | 3696 |
| Supplied by: ICABS |
Get in Touch
If you have a tip for an animal welfare issue, an animal news article, a press release, or just want to just reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you. John Tierney, Animal News Ireland/Editor
Support Animal Journalism
Dear reader: If you support animal journalism and its work to highlight animal issues, please consider donating to Animal News Ireland. You can give any amount one time, or make it a monthly gift, as many of our supporters do. Thank you for helping us in our work to be the voice of the voiceless.