Federation of Irish Sports launches Just Sport Ireland

NEW INDEPENDENT MEDIATION / ARBITRATION SYSTEM SET UP FOR IRISH SPORT

    Federation of Irish Sports Launches Just Sport Ireland (JSI)
    JSI Receives Support of Bar Council and Sports Council
    Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC Embraces Need for JSI

“Sports organisations do best to resolve differences under their own governing codes, rather than resource to courts of law.  Issues of natural justice are important but the substance of matters rather than their form is important in seeking to resolve internal disputes in such organisations and recourse to the courts should be a last resort, and only in the rarest of cases”.  Justice Smyth, High Court, 2007.

In recent years almost all of Ireland’s leading sports organisations have found themselves in court defending themselves against aggrieved athletes or clubs on issues ranging from disciplinary maters, eligibility, admission to competition to composition of leagues or registration.  Such court actions can be time consuming, costly and bitter.  It is against that background that the Federation of Irish Sport has set up Just Sport Ireland  - “an independent specialised dispute resolution service for Irish sport” according to Ms Sarah O’Connor, chief executive of the Federation of Irish Sports.  Ms O’Connor was speaking at the launch of JSI which took place earlier today, 25 October 2007, in Croke Park Dublin.

The Federation of Irish Sports (FIS) was established in 2002 to act as an independent voice for sport in Ireland.  Currently there are 62 sports governing bodies affiliated to the FIS including all of the larger sports organisations.  The establishment of Just Sport Ireland by the FIS is as a direct response to a need perceived right across Irish sport.  It is not intended to be in competition with the internal procedures already in position within individual sports but rather to have an alternative process than recourse to the High Court where the internal process fails to produce a resolution to a dispute.  Similar initiatives have been set up in the UK (1999), Canada (2001) and New Zealand (2003) in recent years.

In setting up Just Sport Ireland (JSI) the Federation of Irish Sports was assisted and supported by a number of different bodies.  These included:-

? A&L Goodbody
? The Bar Council of Ireland
? The Irish Sports Council
? One Resolve (specialist Irish mediation service)
? Artizan Creative (web company)

JSI has been set up as a company limited by guarantee.  Its board of directors are

? Ercus Stewart SC
? Debbie Massey (CEO, Basketball Ireland)
? Derek Brennan (President, the Federation of Irish Sports)
? Sinead O’Connor (Sponsorship and Finance Manager, Cumann Camogaiochta na nGael)
? Jim Glennon
? Paddy Boyd
? Roderick Maguire BL
? Sarah O’Connor (CEO, the Federation of Irish Sports)