The sound of whinnying horses returned to Dublin’s Smithfield yesterday as the first horse fair held under new bylaws got under way.
But it was a much quieter event than usual, according to veterans of the fair. Tourists wielding cameras greatly outnumbered horses for sale on the plaza. Under the new regime, horse owners must have a licence to trade at the market and just 49 licences were bought for yesterday’s fair.
There had been concerns about horse welfare and public safety at the fair for years, but problems came to a head two years ago when two men were shot. Dublin City Council decided to use its powers to increase controls at the fair and passed new bylaws in January.
Not for sale
In its heyday, the monthly fair attracted about 4,000 traders and spectators. Now it will be held just twice a year and attendance numbers were nowhere near that figure yesterday. Many owners present said they had brought their horses along to support the fair but were not selling them.
Cllr Gerry Breen, chairman of the Smithfield horse fair committee, said there were about 1,000 people at the fair. It was “a promising start”, but more work needed to be done to increase the number of horses.
“We need to get some relaxation of the controls, both at the city perimeters and also on the approaches to the fair to make it easier to attend the fair, provided horses are passported and owners possess casual trading licences.”
The event was heavily policed at all approaches to Smithfield Plaza and four mounted gardaí stood watching the proceedings. The fair also included traditional music and exhibitions on the history of Smithfield and the fair.
A question and answer session on the history of the fair heard much criticism of the decision to tighten up controls.
“It’s a travesty and a trampling on people’s rights,” said one man who claimed it was a plan by the council to get rid of the fair. Afterwards he declined to give his name to The Irish Times and said journalists were complicit in the council’s efforts to put a positive spin on the changes.
‘Death of the fair’
Another man with a camera said he had been attending for 25 years, “but today I have witnessed the death of the fair”.
Ronnie Dixon travelled from Newcastle in Britain for the fair and had attended several times before. “It’s very quiet here, dead in fact. There are more tourists than horses,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll come again.”
Thomas Clarke was displaying his Cinderella carriage, which Clarkes Carriages hires out for weddings and funerals. It was drawn by two Friesian stallions, Tom and Duck. Neither the carriage nor the horses were for sale but Mr Clarke said he had come along to try to keep the fair alive. With his friend Edwards Barry, he is trying to break a record of the most horse-drawn carriages in one place, to raise funds for Lily-Mae Morrison, the young Galway girl who has a rare cancer of the nervous system.
Farrier John Paul Malone drew a crowd as he replaced a shoe on a horse at the fair. “I’ve been coming here since I was kid,” he said. His father Paul said the revamped fair was “definitely an improvement” and hoped more horses would appear for the September fair.
Dubliner Val Dempsey hadn’t been at the fair for 10 years but when he heard it on the news yesterday morning, he decided to go along. “I’m very disappointed,” he said. “It’s gone very small. Before, there was an awful lot of money changing hands. I don’t see any money changing hands today.”
Richard Clarke from Kilbarrack was also hoping to see money changing hands. He was trying to sell his piebald cob. But while the horse’s flowing fetlocks were frequently photographed, no one was making a bid.
“Nothing so far anyway,” he said. “It’s very quiet. I always went to the fair, and so did my father and his father before him. I’d hate to see it go but this is turning people away. They’re doing a very rigorous checking of everything and it’s putting people off.”
