Smithfield horse fair plans released

PLANS FOR the future of the Smithfield horse fair, the scene of shootings last year, have been released for public consultation by Dublin City Council.

Submissions on bylaws that would see the controversial monthly market restricted to running just two days a year can be made until November 29th. If horses are brought to the market on any other days, they could be seized and destroyed.

The council has for years sought the closure of the market which has been condemned by the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but has been blocked by an ancient market right of horse traders to hold their sales on the land.

Problems with the market, which is held on the Smithfield Plaza surrounded by apartment blocks and busy roads, came to a head in March last year when two men were shot and another was injured with a slash hook.

The council subsequently wrote to Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton seeking legislation to shut down the fair. Mr Bruton refused the request and suggested the council could regulate the market under the Casual Trading Act.

This has resulted in the drafting of highly restrictive bylaws which would allow the fair to be held only on the first Sundays of March and September between 9.30am and 1.30pm. Each seller must have public liability insurance cover of at least €6.5 million, a casual trading licence from the council and must pay a licence fee of €30 for each horse for sale. A horse must not be mounted or allowed to canter or trot during the fair.

Failure to comply can result in fines of up to €1,900. Under the Casual Trading Act 1995 the animals may also be seized by gardaí and can be sold. Seized horses can be impounded and destroyed. The council has been trying to rid Smithfield of the fair since the 1990s when it invested considerable funds in the redevelopment of the plaza. It temporarily banned the fair in 2002 after a horse bolted and hit a car on the quays which was occupied by a woman and a child.

However, the traders returned to the plaza, citing their market right. The fair also drew attention in 2009 when an injured horse was sold to an 11-year-old boy for €8. The council said it did not previously use the casual trading bylaws to restrict the fair, because it did not know it could.