BREAKING: Cork Council chief to leave for greyhound body

THE Board of Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) has announced the appointment of the current chief executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, as the organisation’s new chief executive.

Mr Lucey has been chief executive of Cork County Council since 2014. During his 40-year career in local government, he also has served as manager of Cork City Council from 2010-2014.

The native of Bandon said he was honoured to accept the position at the racing board.

Frank Nyhan, chairperson of the Board of RCÉ, described Tim as a ‘tremendously experienced leader’.

It is believed that Mr Lucey will leave his current role at Cork County Council in September.

In May the Irish Examiner reported that Greyhound Racing Ireland had pleaded for a €27,000 hike in pay for its new chief executive, along with the provision of a company car.

GRI said the existing €132,920 salary for the role had not been reviewed in years and was ‘no longer reflective’ of salaries for senior management positions in the public or private sector, the newspaper reported.

The greyhound racing industry is currently going through a turbulent time following the revelation by reporter Conor Ryan’s RTE Investigates documentary in 2019 that 6,000 greyhounds were going ‘missing’ every year.

Numbers attending race meetings have fallen significantly in recent years.

It was recently reported that trainers and other involved interests now make up half of those attending race meetings.