Ireland is fast running out of blacksmiths to shoe horses and there is "near panic" in some of the studs in Ireland, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, said yesterday.
He told a press conference at the Kerrygold Horse Show in the Royal Dublin Society yesterday that qualified farriers were being lured away to places like Dubai where they can earn £100,000 a year.
The Minister announced that it was a matter of urgency for the industry that a special school to train farriers be set up in Ireland.
He announced that under the operational fund for Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry, it was proposed to make £200,000 available.
He said the newly-formed Irish Farrier Authority contains representatives from all sectors of the industry, and aims to set up the school before the end of the year.
It is hoped to locate the school in Kildare, attaching it to the RACE school where jockeys are trained. However, he said, progress has been frustrated because of a planning objection to the school.
"It appears we can train people over the four years to do the job but we cannot keep them because they are being lured away," said the Minister.
"We want to get young people trained and ready as soon as possible because it is vital that this service is available to the industry, which is worth millions to the Irish economy," he said.
He said that initially the scheme would target young people who were not yet qualified working in the industry. They could be trained with the assistance of the Master Farriers' Association.