ENTRIES FOR this year’s Discover Ireland RDS Horse Show are up by 10 per cent, organisers said yesterday as they outlined details of the event.
The show, which runs from August 15th to 19th, is later than normal to facilitate the Olympics. While the show was cancelled six times during war time this is just the fourth time in the show’s 139-year history that the date has been altered.
RDS chief executive Michael Duffy said the show attracts about 100,000 visitors from Ireland and abroad. Research by Indecon in 2010 found that the show contributed total direct expenditure of €18 million, with €3 million of that coming from overseas visitors.
Mr Duffy said the event pumped some €43 million into the Irish economy annually, when indirect spending was taken into consideration.This year also marks the return of donkeys to the RDS after a 12-year absence. The Irish Donkey Society will run a donkey display on Sunday to mark its 40th anniversary.
