‘It means the world greyhound racing is coming back’

JAMES Magee only stopped at the border to catch a train to Belfast.

Instead, he ended up buying a pub and opening a dog track – a track that today is rated among the best in the world.

After a two-year absence, greyhounds are set to return to Lifford and no-one is more delighted than James’s son, Cathal. Now aged 80, Cathal Magee has become as much a permanent fixture of Lifford greyhound stadium as the traps.

“I came here first in 1947 when my dad James bought a field and I can still remember them laying the hare rail. I was about six-years-old.

“My dad had gone to America and he had come back home for a funeral. He was on his way back to Belfast when the train stopped in Strabane for a few hours.

“When he was there he ended up buying the Shamrock Bar which later became Felix’s.”

Originally from Cloghan near Ballybofey, James Magee’s only association with dogs had been a couple of family hunting dogs. How then he got into the greyhound game is anyone’s guess.

“Where this came from no one seems to know although possibly it was through greyhound people in the bar. It might have stemmed from that but we’ve never been able to get to the bottom of it.”

For 12 years James Magee operated a ‘flapper track’ – an independent and unlicensed circuit. That changed in 1959 when it was officially recognised by the authorities. And Lifford has only grown in reputation since.

“We’ve had some great nights here,” recalls Cathal.

“In fact we had one of the biggest nights ever in Ireland. I can’t remember the exact year, it was around 1980, but it was the Charlie Donaghey Memorial and people and dogs came from all over England and Ireland.”

Lifford changed hands in 2000 when the Duffy family purchased it. They ran it successfully for many years before its popularity began to fade.

“It was tough to see that. I’m not blaming anyone but it was heartbreaking to see the stadium in the last few years and the way it was going.”

The decline continued until August 2019 when Hugh Duffy and his family took the tough decision to close.

Two years on, though, and it is all systems go again following the granting of a licence by Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) to a private consortium.

Approving the reopening, GRI Chief Executive Gerard Dollard described the proposals put forward by the newly formed Lifford Greyhound Racing Club Ltd as “novel and innovative”.

According to Cathal Magee, the resurrection of Lifford dog track is down largely to one man – Harry Findlay. Famed within English sporting and betting circles, Harry Findlay is a former owner of Gold Cup winner Denman and the legendary Irish hound Big Fella Thanks.

“It has given me a new lease of life seeing Lifford come back and the conditions they are doing it in,” says Cathal.

“It’s very innovative and that is down in no small part to Harry, who I call the fat controller.

“I’ve been listening to stories about him my whole life but I only met him for the first time three months ago.

“He’s a very passionate man about what is going on here and he seems full of commitment towards Lifford. You need that and it’s going to be great for the community and the economy with so many jobs created.”

Another person singled out for special praise is Seamus White who, along with Harry Findlay, Cathal describes as “the architects of the whole set up”.

Lifford’s closing and reopening has prompted very different emotions in an 80-year-old who has seen it all – packed stadiums and thrilling finishes through to empty stands and silent Sunday afternoons.

“It means everything to me. My family has been involved in Lifford our entire lives so it just means the world that racing is coming back here.

“I want to thank the Duffy family who have been very good and who worked very hard here. I had a very good relationship with Willie Duffy in particular.

“It’s funny how life comes full circle too because my son Ciaran is now a shareholder here and hopefully that continues on within the family.

“I had two other brothers, Seamus and Sonny, who were heavily involved in racing.

“Sadly both of them have passed on now but I sincerely hope they are looking down and saying well done to all.”