SPORT IRELAND CEO Dr Una May will defend her organisation’s handling of allegations pertaining to athlete welfare in Irish rowing before an Oireachtas Committee tomorrow. 

Senior officials from Sport Ireland and Rowing Ireland will appear before an Oireachtas Sport Committee tomorrow following a series of articles published by the Sunday Independent, in which several athletes allege a toxic culture within Irish rowing’s high performance programme.

In her opening statement to be read before the Committee tomorrow, which has been seen by The 42, Dr May will say that Sport Ireland “responded immediately, appropriately and promptly to any welfare concerns that were raised with us regarding rowing. We can speak to a number of interventions including, mentoring, mediation, meetings, resources and services.” 

Her statement goes on to acknowledge that, “frankly, there were issues in the rowing High Performance programme. Any matters that were raised were addressed through available mechanisms, including direct dialogue with the leadership in rowing.

“Rowing Ireland is an independent National Governing Body. It has professional staff, a high performance committee and a board with functioning governance, successful programmes, and policies and procedures. It is reasonable and appropriate for Sport Ireland to allow a National Governing Body time and space to address its own issues. Further intervention should only be considered when new information becomes available.” 

Her statement further asserts that more information came to light in March 2021, when the clinical psychologist contracted by Sport Ireland “formally notified us of potential welfare issues in the Rowing Ireland High Performance Programme.” 

Dr May’s statement continues, “Sport Ireland directly and repeatedly contacted the senior leadership of Rowing Ireland regarding concerns, its responsibilities regarding athlete welfare and performance staff and its duty to resolve issues satisfactorily.

“Issues took time to resolve as there were multiple constraints and complexities. Sport Ireland is open to any mechanism that would allow for more timely resolution of issues. Sport Ireland uses the regular Quadrennial Reviews of the Olympic and Paralympic cycle to drive the High Performance system forward, these reviews are publicly available.

“Culture Reviews are associated but separate processes. Culture Reviews are a key mechanism in understanding and addressing issues within High Performance programmes. Following the Tokyo Olympics, Rowing Ireland did not engage in an independent Culture Review, despite Sport Ireland’s expectation for one to take place.” 

Dr May’s statement goes on to say that “funding was used as a specific lever in 2024 for Rowing Ireland following a review of available options”, though does not elaborate on these details. 

With reporting by Christina Finn