Horse Still Waiting To Be Brought To France

THE Department of Agriculture has been asked to investigate the sad and troubling case of a horse which has been waiting to go to its new home in France for over a decade. It is believed a minefield of EU regulations and red tape coupled with a bitter family feud have been key factors in the delayed transport of the animal.

The once-fine Dapple Gray was sold to a French stables in 2007 in a deal brokered by Marienne Doubeau-Marchet with Kerry farmer James Cahir. It is believed that the couple embarked on a torrid affair, thus neglecting to apply for several key permits required to transport live animals across European borders. Mr. Cahirs then housekeeper Agnes O’Malley recalled her impressions of the Frenchwoman when we spoke to her earlier today.

“She was very done up to be on a farm, to be honest” said Ms. O’Malley, now in her early hundreds.

“I didn’t like her at all. I remember she was a divil for the butter, put it on everything. Herself and Mr. Carey were falling all over themselves like school children. She was supposed to come over to the farm and buy a horse, not hang around the kitchen making eyes at a married man while I was trying to get the dinner ready”.

The Abbeydorney farmers tryst ended up costing him his marriage and drove a wedge between him and his son Sean, who had initially been tapped to accompany the horse on the journey to France.

“EU regulations state that anyone transporting a live animal must hold a certificate of competence to do so” said Sean, when we interviewed him at his job in Lidl.

“I had my cert, but Dad hadn’t. So I was supposed to bring the horse to France… that was before he started up with the French doll that came over. All of a sudden, he was going to take the horse to France, but he had to apply for his cert and that takes six months. The French stable had a deposit paid on the horse and wouldn’t wait that long, and out of thick wit I wouldn’t bring it. So in the end, the horse just stayed in the field”.

A legal battle has raged in the years since, with the French demanding their deposit back and Mr. Cahir is refused under the grounds that he had already spent it. Ms.Doubeau-Marchet, whose weight has ballooned up to 26 stone, was unavailable for comment.