Horses at the Galway races will be afforded a privilege that mere humans of the city and county have been unsure of for the last five months - safe drinking water.
The €22 million revamp of Ballybrit racecourse has resulted in a state-of-the-art four-storey grandstand with seating for 700 and boasting panoramic restaurants. As part of the construction work, a new €95,000 water filtration system has been installed to ensure none of the prized four-legged visitors, or the two-legged ones, comes down with a stomach bug.
The ultraviolet unit with sand filtration is a major piece of engineering equipment, akin to a system that would be installed in a group water scheme.
Aquachem Ltd was awarded the contract to install the system in time for the race meeting, which begins on July 30th.Ensuring a cryptosporidium-free water supply is believed to have been a condition of the races going ahead.
After Galway City Council missed its own June 15th deadline to shut down the old Terryland waterworks and bring in water from the Luimnagh plant in Tuam, it became clear that the boil notice would not be lifted in time for the festival.
Racecourse manager John Maloney declined to comment on the new system, which will allow unpolluted water to be served to racegoers and horses straight from the tap.
The new Killanin stand, named in memory of Lord Killanin who was a member of the Galway Race Committee for over 40 years, will be accessible free of charge to the public once they are inside the venue.
The total development, including the demolition of the old west stand, will cost in the region of €22 million, with the assistance of €10 million from Horse Racing Ireland.