Dara O'Briain; A tale of a dead Greyhound

To date, the unfolding story of Dara O'Briain, the BBC and a dead greyhound has gone under the radar amongst the general UK public. The object of the controversy involves the BBC's Christmas special of the "Three men in a boat" series. The show featured the popular Irish entertainer, Dara O'Briain. In Three men go to Ireland, Dara took his pals, Griff Ryhs Jones and Rory McGrath, on a journey showing them his own take on life in his home land. The viewer might have been surprised to learn that O'Briain was the part owner of a racing greyhound. Part of Dara's treat to his pals was a trip 'down the dogs' to watch his dog race. What viewers to the show didn't know was that Dara'a dog, Snip Nua, was dead by the time the show went out.
Controversially, the dog was destroyed after suffering an injury that is generally regarded as treatable.
At the time of transmission many owners of Greyhounds and those interested in their welfare were exasperated that yet again the BBC gave the Greyhound racing industry lip service and a bit of free publicity. That exasperation turned to outrage when whispers started to circulate that Snip was dead. A forum posting in Ireland in the middle of January alleged that the dog had been killed a month earlier but intimidation and abuse from supporters of the Irish Greyhound industry forced the annoymous postee to partially withdraw the allegations. Then it was confirmed, Snip Nua had been destoyed after a hock injury on the 14th of December 2009. The news spread like wild fire among the rescued Greyhound community.
The BBC made no comment about the Dogs demise and nor did Dara.
For a while disgruntled owners of rescued Greyhound and animal lovers bombarded the Irishmans Twitter account with critisism and demands for a public statement.
To his credit, O'Briain quickly answered his critics, but his responses were awkward, hollow and often defensive
“What makes you think I wasn't really sad about the whole thing...your presumption that I didn't reflects badly on yourself”.
“I wasn't there when Snip had his accident."
"I didn't hear about it all until the next day”.
“ It wasn't my fault”
O'Briains weak reasoning gave him the air of a man who was more sorry for getting found out than of a man who had any regret for the dogs demise. He even erroneously quoted the dogs sex. Astonishingly, despite being barraged with numerous tweets it appeared he couldn't understand that all people wanted was for him to accept that he had played a part in the dogs death and use his influence to speak out against the industry. Presumably, O'Briain's conscience was clear and he dug his heals in.
"Ok I know I'm a C***t..I get the message now leave me alone"
"Spare me the general opinion"[Re: treatability of hock injuries]
"I trusted the experts advice..Were you there to take that call...No!"
"the ignorance of suggesting that the dog was put down on economic grounds [was] Vile."
"I've answered this over and over again." [on his perception that he was being blamed for the death of the dog] "ENOUGH!"
His attitude put you in mind of a slave trader who shrugged his shoulders at the death of a few slaves en route to the new world or an absentee landlord who could not see the part he played in the starvation of his tennents in 1840's Ireland.
O'Briain, it would seem was a fully paid up member of the 'No blame' culture, the thinking man incarnate of Vicky Pollard. O'Briain even contradicted himself like the terrible teen. He claimed at first to have not heard about the incident until the following day then says he got the call from the expert [vet ] on the night.
His responses varied wildly from what you might expect from an educated individual with past accolades in debating.
Complainants to the BBC were confronted with an equally frustrating smoke screen.
“The reason we included this scene was because Dara part owned a Greyhoundcalled Snip, who as part of the narrative was journeying with them. Viewersof the earlier series Three Men in a Boat, which replicated Jerome KJerome's book, will be aware that a dog called Loly joined them and so inthis new series, Snip went instead.To some, Greyhound racing is an important part of Irish entertainment andrural pursuits and Dara, who was showing Griff and Rory a slice of Irelandfrom his own perspective, decided it was a perfect opportunity for Griffand Rory to watch Snip in action.We don't believe by featuring the race we were showing the sport in eithera positive or a negative way. Nevertheless, We'd like to assure you that we've registered your commentson our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback whichwe compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executiveswithin the BBC, and also their senior management. It ensures that yourpoints, and all other comments we receive, are circulated and consideredacross the BBC.”
The corporation received enough complaints to warrant sending out a standard response. Astonishingly, the BBC's response failed to make reference to the fact that the dog was dead by the time the show went out at the end of December 2009.
It seems that there were several issuses that the BBC were hiding.
(1) The BBC appeared to have worked alongside the Irish tourist board and the programme has been perceived as a marketing film by them.
(2) The circumstances surrounding the destruction of the dog are contentious and full exposure of the details could be damaging to Dara O'Briain's hitherto good standing
The following blog outlines what the UK media appears reluctant to reveal about the BBC and the heir apparent to Terry Wogan's for the role of Britains favourite Irishman

BBC and O'Briain showcase racing and tourism to Ireland

Judging by local press releases and on line forum discussions the three men show was big news in Ireland and its airing was eagerly anticipated as it appears to have promised to showcase the West Meath region and boost tourism to Ireland. [1] [2] [3] Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: "The Three Men programmes provide us with a tremendous opportunity to showcase Mullingar and Ireland." The BBC stated that “To some, Greyhound racing is an important part of Irish entertainment and rural pursuits and Dara, who was showing Griff and Rory a slice of Ireland from his own perspective, decided it was a perfect opportunity for Griff and Rory to watch Snip in action.” Comments such as those of Niall Gibbons suggest that the BBC and the Irish tourism industry worked together. Surely, one of the golden pricipals of the BBC was impartiality and no advertising. A recent edition of the Irish post (Feb 20) indicates that the tourism board is still cock a hoop over the publicity the show gave the country. In the Irish Post, Niall Gibbons outlines his preparations to promote 'brand Ireland' for St Patrick's day he is quoted as saying that the marketing drive kicked off with two programmes, Three men being one, by the BBC and states how these programmes got a lot of interest on this side of the water.
O'Briain's involvement in Greyhound racing was not widely known in the UK prior to 'Three Men'.
The Irish greyhound racing industry certainly appears to have seen the popular and erudite Irishman's participation as good publicity for Greyhound racing, which as the programme itself stated was in decline in the UK. [4][5] [6].
Dara is a popular figure in the UK and his endorsement of the sport can only help promote the industry especially as his persona is at great variance to previous more macho celebrity Greyhound owners, such as Vinnie Jones and Freddie Flintoff and more historically, Al Capone. His participation by implication presents Greyhound racing in a good light or at the very least bestows a level of respectability to the sport which other celebrities have not. It has even been banded about that Dara is Terry Wogans heir apparent to the role of Britain's favorite Irishman. If Sir Tel suddenly expressed an interest in the sport people would look up and take note.
The fact that apparent intellectuals such as Griff and Rory also appeared happy to enjoy the trip to the stadium also helped to reinforce the view that nice guys go down 'the dogs' too. Viewers might have been reassured by O'Briain's clear concern for the dogs welfare when she is locked away before her race. He innocently asks the dogs trainer
"Will she be alright locked away in there on her own" The kindly Irishman has the consumed look of a worried father.
O'Briain's acting for the benefit of the audience was in reality a little cynical. One wonders if O'Briain might make a better actor than comedian, the man has been involved in the sport for at least a decade so he would be well aware of pre race proceedure by now.
In the narrative Griff himself stated that Greyhound racing had never been more popular in Ireland than it was at present time but that it was in decline in the UK, no mention was made as to why. Perhaps to the unitiated griff's words might well have influenced people in the UK to re evaluate or acquire positive views about the sport and ask what it is that the UK is missing out on. We only have to look at the dramatic increase in UK cider consumption to see what an Irish slant on a product can do...'brand Ireland' sells in the UK.
The programmes producers, Liberty Bell did sterling works in depicting the thrills and spills of the Greyhound racing track, the dramatic camera shots and stirring Irish music made the nights proceedings seem very exciting and appealing. Back in Gordon Brown's drab recession torn Britain, the show must have stirred up a desire in many a winter weary viewer to get over to the emerald isle in the spring and join in the 'craic' or lift their reccessional gloom with a cheap night out and give the 'dogs' a go sometime back home. Interestingly the UK greyhound industry has kicked off the year with a series of 'loss leading' offers in a desparate effort to reverse the downward attendance trend and get punters back on the trackside.
No mention was made during the programme of the more unsavory side of the industry, that is the apalling welfare issues, the fact that thousands of dogs who don't make the grade are disposed of each year and the fact that on many occassions dogs are destroyed for treatable injuries.
Poor wee Snip Nua's fate was to be sealed on the night of December the 14th at Harold's cross greyhound stadium, just a couple of weeks before was she due to make what should have been her screen debut. The grim reaper stalked the Dublin stadium just in time for the eighth race of the night at twenty to Ten.
The night was probably a little colder than the usual Dublin December evening. The winter had been particularly cold so far and no doubt the stadium groundsmen would have had their work cut out preventing the tracks sand surface from freezing over in the short intervals between each race. When supplies of salt run short tracks have been known to spray diesel oil on the sand.

Dismissal of Dogs injury and death at transmission by the BBC

The show was filmed in October 2009 and featured Snip in action on the track. During the race the young dog put in a promising performance at the Mullingar Greyhound stadium. To the audience watching the show, it was obvious O'Briain was exultant with the young dogs performance, presumably she offered great promise in the coming years. But, as we now know poor Snip Nua was dead by the time 'Three men go to Ireland' was transmitted two months later. [ 7] The young dog, just 19 months old, was destroyed after sustaining a leg injury during a race meeting at Dublin's Harold cross stadium on the 14th of December 2009.
The incident highlights a common controversy regarding Greyhound racing, that is that otherwise healthy dogs are frequently destroyed after sustaining treatable injuries. [8], [9] Commenting on the incident, the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) have stated that putting a racing dog down for a non life threatening but career ending injury such as a broken leg, is tantamount to animal abuse (Irish Mail on Sunday 31-01-10) . The DSPCA, in common with most Greyhound welfare organizations appear to take the view that injured racing Greyhounds should be given the chance to be re homed as pets. It has been reported that O'Brian was very upset about the death of his dog, so much so that he and his co syndicate members immediately disbanded the syndicate permanently. To date (February 10th 2010) neither O'Briain or the BBC have made any public comment about the incident or why the show went out with no mention of the dogs demise.
If Dara is as upset as is reported then it would be good if he publicised his feelings and spoke out against a sport it is reported he no longer participates in.
As for the BBC, it is quite clear they should have made some reference to the dog being dead. A little screen shot or brief voice over at the end, as is normal practice when any key participant in a show dies before the show is transmitted. Obviously, such an admission would seriously take the gloss off the show particularly if the show was a marketing film for the Irish tourist board.
Dara did say in response to one of his twitter protesters that he was not there at the track and that he didn't know about Snip's accident until the following morning.
In the one newspaper article about the incident Dara and the boys seem to have set Liam O'Rourke, the dogs trainer, up as the fall guy. Poor simple Liam is the only one connected to the syndicate to have made any public comment about the incident. He told the Irish Mail that he wasn't there on the night but the Mail does him up like a kipper by showing him to contradict himself at every turn. O'Rourke comes across like a character in a 1950's Ealing farce ('I weren't there Gov....honset'). First he says he wasn't there then he says he saw the accident and the dog being carried in to the weighing room.
It must have been a fraught meeting between the trainer and O'Brian and his Journo and Barrister pals when trying to thrash out agreement on the order of events on the night.
"Be'Jeeeesus Liam...you weren't there.. right? and nor were we...right?"
"Right ye are Mr O'Briain, Mr McNally, Mr..." "We was none of us there....But Mr O'Brian?...should I not tell em what the Vet said?"
"LIAM!"
O'Rourke told the Mail that at least some of the syndicate members were there with Snip when she was carried into the weighing room. The dog is reported to have suffered a bad break and have been in a lot of pain. That figures, a broken bone is none to pleasant but with treatment and medication it can be overcome.
In the video footage of the race the dog is seen being bowled over early on in the face by a dog crossing lanes. The injured dog recovers to her feet then faulters on with her hind leg flaying behind her. In the footage not one official is seen running on to the trackside to attend to the casualty. Snip is seen at the close of the video huddled at the trackside as the other finished racers catch her up. Even at this point we don't see the white coat of an official running to her aid. Observers have seen greyhounds fall at stadia before, on most occassions an official jumped the barrier straight away to pull the struggling dog up. The staff at Harolds cross that night obviously had other things to do. The Irish Greyhound racing board takes a different view to the DSPCA on the issuse of injured greyhounds, it posits that if the dogs suffering its best in some cases to put the dog down. What they really mean if you don't want to take the time to treat the dog and give it time to heal put it down. At the time of trauma many people might wish for a pill to end all the pain and suffering only to look back and laugh when fully recovered, why should dogs be any different?
The syndicate dog is in many cases the least fortunate of all racing greyhounds, his or her lot is that they are a commodity, a play thing something to earn its owners a bit of cash or Qudos. Their fate is often decieded by people other than the syndicate members who very often aren't present. The descison of the VET is trusted and sydicates often sign a consent form rather like a 'do not resucitate' form in the event of serious injury. It very likely that poor Snip Nua died surrounded by strangers in a noisy chaotic room. It is entirely possible that O'Briain didn't hear about it all until the next morning as the claims.
To save the dog she would have needed surgery which would have gone on into the night. Her race was as 21:40 the 8th out of 11th so the evening was drawing to an end and it would have been getting on for 10 0'clock when Snip lay reeling in pain on the weighing room table. It is quite possible that icy conditions might have contributed to a high casualty rate that night and the Vets might have been overstretched. Or treatment might just not have been convenient that night, the Vet might have had a hot date? Any number of reasons might have conspired against Snip getting the treatment she really deserved.
There is also the issue of recuperation, would Dara or one of his busy important pals be prepared to look after an injured dog, carry her outside when she needed to and attend to the needs that a recuperating atheles demands?
The image that racing Greyhound are owned by well meaning individuals who run their dogs for a bit of fun and look after them for life is not accurate. Such owners do exist but they are not the majority.
Mr O'Rourke makes the final insult regarding the needless termination of Snip life.
"Normally her being a bitch you'd have fixed it [the leg] and bred from it." [Snip Nua]. In other words a male dog would just get put down as a matter of course but a female could provide an income so is spareable. Clearly Snip wasn't even worthy of that dubious honour,O'Rourkes carless words drove the final nail in her coffin. Not that she'd have had one, her young body would have been disposed of like rubbish or even rendered down to feed other dogs.

O'Briain's previous controversy regarding Greyhound racing

The above would be bad enough but Dara O'Briain has previous form in brushing aside welfare issues in Greyhound racing. Dara O'Briain has been the part owner of racing greyhounds for several years, being a member of a racing greyhound syndicate back in his homeland. Among the syndicate members are Frank McNally, business editor of the Irish Times. In November 2006 O'Briain claimed his membership of the syndicate was the worst financial investment he'd ever made.[10] Stating that, despite owning six dogs over the preceding seven years they [the syndicate] had only ever had one victory. O'Briain bemoaned that the investment had 'bled cash with no sign of clotting'. None the less, O'Briain apparently persisted with his investment and his participation in the sport. O'Briain once quipped that he sends his useless dogs to Barcelona on holiday. The trade in Irish greyhounds to Spain is well documented and rather than being a holiday, after a tortuous overland and sea journey cramped in crates where they can often not turn around or stand up properly, the dogs are subjected to more horrific abuse.
Presumably, O'Briain was either applying comic effect when referring to the performance of his dogs or his later dogs have been of better quality, for according to data held by the Irish Greyhound board, dogs in his syndicate have actually attained 10 wins out of 71 races.[11]
It is obviously the case that comedians present views that are not necessarily their own to get a reaction and sometimes people are often only too quick to choose to take offence. Jimmy Carr's recent remarks about service personnel and the para Olympics spring to mind. The difference between Carr and O'briain is that while Carr was in tune with the warped 'forces' type sense of humour O'Briain's joke makes light of the abuse and exploitation of an industry. Carr was well aware that his remarks would put a smile on the face of many an amputee soldier who'd see it as a coping mechanism. Carr was also probably aware that his quip would have hit a nerve among the often up tight Guardian reading intelligentsia, a reaction he no doubt sought. O'Briain in contrast was well aware of the welfare issues involved in greyhound racing, he had after all owned several dogs and injury and death are nothing new in this sport. In this instance O'Briain's humour is the humour of ridicule he's laughing at something rather than with something he is laughing at something that cannot fight or answer back. The comedians Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson have frequently been been critisised for the prejudicial nature of their work. While revisionists might have left the jury in a quandary over one of the comedians it is the common consensus that the other comedian is/was a genuine bigoted nasty individual who believed/s in his projected views. In this instance O'Brian appears to have more in common with the latter than the former.
The Current state of play
It is now nearly two months since news of Snip Nua's death broke. The BBC have not provided a satisfactory explanation to complaints that the show promoted Greyhound racing and that acknowledgment of the dogs death was not publically made.
The Irish tourist board continues to cite 'Three Men' on its web site and is busy gearing up for St Patrick's day and the summer tourist season. It is looking forward to reaping the benefits that publicity of the show will bring.
Meanwhile Dara O'Briain is busy in the early stages of his UK tour. Judging by responses to and from his twitter account the entertainer is full of the joys of spring.
It would seem poor Snip Nua is now long forgotten and the three parties involved are getting on with their lives hoping they might just have got away with it all.
They will if we let them.
People who have rescued greyhounds tend to be rather like their dogs laid back and easy going it is not always in their nature to be confrontational and vocal about their cause. Often such people were blissfully unaware of the true horrors that their dogs went through before they meet their dogs. Now that they are the suffering of their dogs and others like them are seldom far from their thoughts. For this suffering and abuse to end the public needs to be made fully aware about the true nature of this so called sport.
The complicity of the BBC, Dara O'Briain and the Irish tourist board offers a golden opportunity to expose the truth.
A public admission of guilt and regret by a high profile figure like O'Briain can only be achieved if pressure is put on him to do so.
O'Briain is in a difficult position he has to decide which bridge to burn to get out of the predicament he has put himself in. An open condemnation of Greyhound racing by him would loose him friends back home in the Republic but gain him more over here in the UK.
The fact that the BBC instantly responded to complaints about the fictional death of a fictional dog in Eastenders shows that they take complaints about animal abuse very seriously. The BBC published a response to complaints about the 'insinuated' death of a dog in Eastenders and yet have failed to do the same for Snip Nua and have monumentally dragged their heals answering complainants.
The BBC hopes it will all go away, they hope it will all be forgotten. They might appear confident that they'll get away with it all but behind closed doors they are running scared. They are so scared that they have even sunk to the level of threatening a campaigner with legal action. Obviously, such action would be counter productive in that the publicity it would generate would backfire against the corporation but it indicates how much of a hole they realise they are in.
Dara O'Briain would be familiar with the significance of the refrain in WB Yeats' poem Easter 1916, “A terrible beauty is born”. Yeats's line references the phenomenon that the standing and support for the rebels of the 1916 Irish uprising increased after the incompetent treatment of the uprising by the government of the time. Could it be that the whole Snip Nua , Dara O'Briain affair unleashes an analageous terrible beauty and that beauty leads on to the demise of Greyhound racing? For the sake of Snip Nua and her contemporaries, past present and future lets hope it does.

The backlash begins

The backlash is begining against Dara and the BBC.



On Friday 12th March a small protest was held at one of O'Briain's gigs in Bradford West Yorkshire. The small band of protesters set out to let the public know about Snip Nua and O'Briain's and the BBC's silence on the matter. The protesters also set out to get O'Briain to speak to them with an aim of getting him to speak out agiainst Greyhound racing.On the whole Dara's audience was interested in what the protesters had to say some very visibly shocked and angered by the revelations. It was always on the cards that O'Briain might use the protest to his advantage and put the protesters down, he did not. Apparently, he made reference to those outside in the cold and made tribute to them without ridicule. He asked the audience if any anti greyhound racing supporters were in the audience, a cheer of approval ran through the auditorium, it is known that O'Briain's heart leapt with fear at that point. Perhaps he feared a 'Fathers for justice' style spectacular was about to sabotage his show?
At the end of the show, when the public were leaving the protest was moved to the stage door. O'Briain obliged a small group of autograph hunters while the protesters, now just down to two, stood on the opposite side of the street. They maintained their gaze on O'Briain at all times. The comedian was clearly nervous by their presence and avoided reciprocal eye contact, for the most part.
Then with the last autograph signed he headed to his waiting car. With the driver in place and engine on tick over, a speedy vacation of the Bradford street was expected. Then extraodiarily, O'Briain stopped faced his opponents and held his hand up.
"Good luck" He appeased.
The protesters called him over, like a school boy caught in the act of mischief he aukwardly crossed the street to face them.
As you might expect DOB was a little nervous about the encounter and came across as a very different person to on stage. He came out with the usual excuses for his dogs death "I wasn't there" "I just trusted the experts advice" etc .
He was asked whether he would speak out against the 'sport', he ummed and arred and said he wasn't sure how he could do that. When it was pointed out that his fame and influence could be put to good use by speaking out about the 'sport' he ummed and arred some more and indicated that this was something he would need to think about. It was pointed out to him that he wasn't a Freddie Flintoff or Vinny Jones type character and that his participation in the 'sport' gave it an air of respectability which other celebs had not. He took on board that his endorsment could influence his fans to get into the 'sport' and seemed to recognise that he had a responsibilty to let the public know the full story about greyhound racing.
Clearly, Dara has a few bridges to burn to get out of the mess he has got himself in.
The protesters get the impression that he does see the error of his ways and feel that with the right approach he might well be encouraged to speak up against a 'sport' he has participated in for some years. He came across as a genuinely nice guy, Its certainly worth a go.
It would seem that the Bradford protest was just the first of many.

October 2010
These are just some of the comments that we have received from the public at the Dara O'Briain awareness protests.

"He's gone down in our estimation now" Buxton.
"I hadn't heard all about this....I'm not happy at all " Bradford
"I had no idea this sort of thing went on" Bradford
"How shallow! having your picture taken with him (Dara O'Briain) don't you know he kills dogs" One of a group of young women at York, who became interested in protest and critical of one of Dara's fans.
"I'm shocked and very angry about this...we've got a rescued Greyhound ourselves" Bradford.
"Too be honest I didn't know there was still a problem in greyhound racing...but then there aren't any tracks in my region" Rural Animal welfare officer (West Wales) Buxton.
"We will take this up with him inside" Norwich
"Yes its bad...but thats greyhound racing for you" Bradford
"Oh how awful...I saw the show at Christmas, she was such a lovely dog" Bradford
"We will pray for you (the protesters) the dog and Dara " Two Muslim men passing in Norwich.
"I didn't realise this sort of thing still went on" Bradford Police officer on recieving leaftets and notification of demo"
"No one comes out of this episode with any credit" Manager of one of the venues that O'Briain performed (Written).
"I remember seeing this (Snip nua on show) at the time and was apauled at how it trivialised greyhound racing..now that your'e saying the dog was killed I am disgusted with them. I'm only here because my girlfriend wants to see him, I'd go home otherwise" Halifax
"Ah...he might be a clever fella but he wants to watch what he gets involved in" Halifax

HOWEVER, DARA O'BRIAIN IS GETTING AWAY WITH IT

Despite the overwelming amount of support from his fans (often now former ones) at the events Dara O'Briain is getting away with it. The reason ? We have not had enough support in mounting protests against his shows.
O'Briain will now no longer speak to protesters...he's fed up with telling us over and over again that ; "He wasn't even in the country at the time " He "only owned part of the dog". it "wasn't his fault " He "Just took the experts advice".
O'Briain even resorted to a verbal and very nasty attack at Buxton. Clearly he is not the nice guy he purports to be and shows the incredible arogance that he is above being questioned over the death of his racing dog, Snip Nua.
Furthermore, the names of three of his earlier dogs have now been found ; Fior Gael who last raced on 23rd of February 2000, Sagar Parioste, who last reaced 14th of November 2003 and Mo Conniollach, who's last race is unknown. What happend to these dogs is unknown , nor to is the fate of the 4 other dogs whom O'Briain refered to have having "bleed cash " in November 2006. There is also the question of how many dogs his syndicate had between November 2006 and Snip Nua in 2009.
It would seem that Dara O'Briain is a serial abuser of Greyhounds of the worst order, he needs to be exposed for what he is. Sadly, despite a polite campaign O'Briain refuses speak out against a 'sport ' he purports to no longer being involved in, this leaves no option but for us to slog on with a peaceful awareness campaign to expose his high profile and popular persona to raise awareness among his fans on the issue of Greyhound abuse to the general public. Sooner or later he will have to come clean to his audience, he has made references to the protests in his shows but has not made a joke at our expense, he knows that he cannot do this, furthermore, having witnessed his outburst in Buxton I doubt he possesses the whit.
To acheive its objectives the campaign needs more volunterers to mount demonstrations, fortuitously, O'Briain has added some more dates to his UK tour during the latter part of the year. The Greyhounds need you support now! This is a golden opportunity to raise awareness about the plight of Greyhounds..they need your help now...please do all you can to support or organise an event near you. Write to your local paper, the venues where he is performing, challenge Dara to a public debate, storm your local BBC headquaters (ok maybe that's going a bit far)
O'Briain's profile will grow soon with his hosting of the apprentice spin off 'your'e fired'
Its time he and the BBC came clean





See also
http://www.greytexploitations.com/






[1[ http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/mullingar/articles/2009/12/29/3993719-7m-british-tv-viewers-to-see-mullingar-in-three-men-in-a-boat-special/
[2] http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/mullingar/articles/2009/10/08/391802-bbc-three-men-in-a-boat-stars-at-mullingar-greyhound-stadium/
[3] http://www.iwai.ie/forum/read.php?1,17209.
[4] http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/mullingar/articles/2009/10/08/391802-bbc-three-men-in-a-boat-stars-at-mullingar-greyhound-stadium/
[5] http://www.igb.ie/top/News/Photo-Gallery/Mullingar/
[6] http://www.facebook.com/irishgreyhoundboard.
[7] http://www.greytexploitations.com/resources-and-reports/did-the-bbc-callously-dismiss-the-deaths-of-two-greyhounds
[8] http://greythealth.com/hock.htm
[9] http://www.hovedogs.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=13177
[10] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/article649721.ece.
[11] http://www.igb.ie/Trainers-Landing/owners/?oid=88025.