The governing body for sport in Ireland has maintained that it “responded immediately, appropriately and promptly” to any welfare concerns that were raised with it about an alleged toxic and bullying culture in Rowing Ireland.
Sport Ireland chief executive Una May has defended how the body responded over the past four years to potential welfare issues in the Rowing Ireland high-performance programme. The concerns were first raised by clinical psychologist Paul Gaffney as far back as 2021.
In a private meeting of the Oireachtas joint committee on sport last week, Dr Gaffney told TDs and Senators that in 2024, he was treating 12 current and former athletes from the sport’s high-performance programme. Former world champion and Olympian Sanita Puspure and international rower Monika Dukarska also spoke at the committee last week, outlining the culture that existed in the sport under the sport’s former performance director, Antonio Maurogiovanni.
In an opening statement supplied in advance of her attendance at a committee meeting tomorrow, Dr May said that Sport Ireland acknowledges and regrets the experience of some athletes in the Rowing Ireland high-performance programme
“We want to reassure the committee and the wider community 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,” she has said.
Acknowledging that there have been issues in Rowing Ireland since 2021, Dr May said they were addressed through available mechanisms, including direct dialogue with the leadership in rowing.
However, she said that Rowing Ireland was an independent body with professional staff, policies, governance, and committees.
“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.
“In March 2021, new information did become available when the clinical psychologist contracted by Sport Ireland formally notified us of potential welfare issues in the Rowing Ireland high-performance programme.
“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.”
Dr May said the issues “took time” to resolve as there were many constraints and complexities.
She said her organisation was open to any mechanism that would allow for a quicker resolution.
“Culture reviews are a key mechanism in understanding and addressing issues within high-performance programmes.
She said that following the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Rowing Ireland did not engage in an independent culture review, despite Sport Ireland’s expectation for one to take place.
She has also disclosed that Sport Ireland used future funding for Rowing Ireland as a “specific lever” in its efforts to resolve the issue.