Oireachtas Committee Meetings have been a regular feature of sport in recent years, occasionally to pay tribute to well-executed work, more often to probe governance issues that need to be resolved.
Today’s was the latter, ostensibly to discuss welfare issues at Rowing Ireland, but quickly spiralling into a wider review of the role which Sport Ireland plays in protecting athletes.
We will have a considered report on the proceedings from a front row seat tomorrow morning. It was a bit too incendiary in many places to rush to print, bringing into the spotlight issues of high-performance culture and the line between positive pressure and the risk of feeling unsafe.
Chair Alan Kelly had hardly brought matters to a close when Ministers Patrick O’Donovan and Charlie McConalogue issued a statement saying that the terms of reference for an independent review were being drawn up immediately.
The statement said that the Ministers and the Department have closely followed media coverage of issues relating to Rowing Ireland, including ongoing discussions at the Joint Oireachtas Committee today.
“Safeguarding of athletes at all levels of sport is a shared responsibility, and it is clear that there are lessons to be learned from the issues that have arisen in Rowing Ireland’s handling of the process. These lessons could be applied more generally across sport,” said the statement.
“While we look forward to the Committee’s report on this matter, the Ministers are of the view that an independent review of the process, procedures and timelines relating to the rowing issues discussed could be helpful. Such a review could also consider how the Irish sports system responds to issues such as this can be strengthened.”
“The Ministers have asked the Department to develop terms of reference for such a review and to kickstart a focused review process in a timely manner.”
“Recommendations arising from this review could then be actioned and embedded in Ireland’s overall sports governance and administration framework, including in the context of the next 10-year National Sports Policy, which is currently commencing development.”
That puts the wheels firmly in motion on ensuring the system is brought to an appropriate level. The trickier part will be finding that space, as Senator Evanne NÃ Chuillin said during the hearings between better sport and safer sport.
We’ll have some thoughts on that tomorrow morning.
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