Joint Committee On Transportation And Communications

OPENING STATEMENT BY MR JOHN TREACY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SPORT IRELAND

Introduction

Sport Ireland is the statutory agency for sport with a specific remit for high performance sport. Its establishment date is October 1, 2015, following the passing of legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The creation of the new agency advances the vision of a sustainable Irish system for Irish athletes largely based at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown.

Significant progress has been made in recent years. No doubt boxing is the jewel in the crown but world class performances have been achieved on a repeated basis in many sports including athletics, badminton, cycling, cricket, equestrian, golf and sailing. This week, as the furore engulfed us, our hockey team and our Paralympians achieved world class success. 2015 has been another excellent year for Irish sport.

We are very ambitious for the developing system. It is long journey, much distance has been travelled but there is much more work to do. We believe success in high performance is a key driver in strengthening the National Governing Bodies of sport. We expect sports to operate their HP systems to a high standard.

We believe that long term sustainable success will be achieved through strong Governing Bodies leading and driving their own HP Programmes. Our role is to advise, support and provide resources as required. These resources include the world class facilities at Abbosttown and the service provided directly through the Institute of Sport. Sport Ireland must also provide strategic and financial oversight.   

The transfer of the International Carding Scheme into the NGBs is an example of Sport Ireland devolving responsibility for HP into the sports.

The system remains heavily reliant on state funding.  In the case of boxing the dependence on state funding is out of balance and not healthy. That is an important strategic issue for the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) and one we hope to see addressed seriously in the medium term.

The IABA receives the highest level of Sport Ireland funding for its High Performance Programme (€925,000 in 2015). It received the fifth highest ‘core’ grant in 2015 (€431,716) and over the past two years has seen investment from Sport Ireland increase by 12%.  These significant increases are against trend as, due to the Exchequer situation, the budget of Sport Ireland has decreased in recent years.

It also receives support from our colleagues at Sport NI, Dublin City Council and special grants under the Sports Capital Programme.

With this level of state support comes obligations and responsibilities.  Success at Olympics, World and European Championships discharges some but not all of those obligations. The medals are wonderful but sport is about more than podium success.

My experience is that the Irish boxers have represented Ireland with great distinction inside and outside the ring in recent years. Win, lose or draw they have been outstanding ambassadors for their sport, community and country.  The general management of the IABA must also reflect these high standards.   

USA Boxing – February 26

On February 26, the IABA informed the Irish Sports Council (ISC) that Billy Walsh had received an offer from USA Boxing that was finically attractive and professionally challenging. 

From the outset the ISC made it clear that it wanted to retain Billy Walsh and was available to provide whatever support was required.  The rationale was clear; Billy Walsh has been instrumental in the sustained success of Irish Boxing and was fundamental in the development of the High Performance Systems that continues to achieve on the World, Olympic and European stage. The potential timing of his departure could be compromising for the IABA HP programme in advance of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

IABA/ISC Meetings – March 2 and July 16

The ISC believed that a fair offer would secure Billy Walsh’s services. I met with the IABA on March 2. There was a consensus that every effort should be made to retain the services of Billy Walsh as the high performance lead in the IABA. The IABA confirmed that it would commence a process to retain Billy Walsh in post.

From the outset the Sport Ireland explicitly recognised that the IAB was the legal employer of Billy Walsh and therefore had the responsibility to resolve the matter. The ISC’s role was to provide financial assistance and other supports to the IABA if and when requested. This involvement was at the invitation of the IABA as it openly acknowledged that no arrangement could be reached without he financial and other supports.

It transpired that very little progress was made. I had another meeting on July 16. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a paper that contained a number of options on new Terms & Conditions for Billy Walsh. Our advice was that any potentially successful proposal should include Billy Walsh retaining his employment status. The IABA response was that there was a difficulty in getting any proposal approved by the IABA board.

Memorandum of Understanding – August 20

We were concerned that no new action appeared to be forthcoming over the following weeks. On August 20 an ISC delegation led by Chairman Kieran Mulvey held a high level meeting with an IABA delegation led by its Chairman Joe Christle. Notwithstanding reservations expressed by the IABA there was a clear statement that it wished to retain Billy Walsh in post.

On that basis a series of meetings were arranged for August 22.  Sport Ireland presented a proposal which addressed the needs and concerns of all parties.

Minor amendments were made and the proposal was circulated to the various parties on August 23. Fergal Carruth (IABA CEO) confirmed receipt and said that it would be brought to board of the IABA on 25 August. On that day the ISC was informed that the proposal would not be presented to the board. A “sub-committee” was suggesting a new version that was substantially different to the original proposal. Specifically the financial package was to be referred to a Review mechanism and the reporting arrangements within the IABA would remain unchanged.

In effect this unilateral action ended Sport Ireland’s initiative. It communicated its disappointment at this turn of events and stated that it no longer had any role in the issue. However, support and funding were not withdrawn. It advised the IABA to act quickly and to revert to the original proposal if the situation was to be resolved. 

The story was leaked to the media that week (August 26/27) and was covered extensively on all news outlets. In the absence of any action by the IABA the ISC issued a press release on August 28 urging the IABA to act to retain Billy Walsh.  No one can know the source of a leak. However it is certain that the leak was not in the interests of those parties that hoped Billy Walsh would stay at the IABA.

Athlone – September 11

None of the interventions or the media coverage prompted any advance on the issue. This prompted the Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Mr Michael Ring TD, to intervene. He called a meeting with the IABA and the Sport Ireland which was held in Athlone on September 11.

The outcome of this meeting was that the IABA would offer a proposal to Billy Walsh based on him agreeing to alter his work status. Sport Ireland agreed to fund whatever agreement was reached but the IABA, the legal employer, was responsible for the negotiating and agreeing the contract. The non-financial aspects of the deal were discussed at this meeting and it was recommended that a process be put in place to finally resolve these issues.

In the meantime Billy Walsh was leading the IABA senior men’s team at their successful campaign at the World Championships in Doha. At the request of the IABA Minister Ring met a delegation in his office on October 14. I attended at the invitation of the Minister.

The IABA informed the Minister that the contract was close to agreement subject to some minor details being agreed. In addition they presented a proposal containing certain matters for his consideration. Minister Ring advised that the priority was to secure the deal.

This paper stated that the IABA would sign the contract after a salary review of IABA staff was undertaken. This was clarified that it would be signed after the review was commenced. However it was a concern as it presented a potential stumbling block to negotiations and it didn’t indicate any urgency on the part of the IABA in concluding the contract.

Resignation – October 19

Unfortunately it transpired that the deal was not close to a conclusion.

Following the resignation of Billy Walsh, Sport Ireland wrote to the IABA on October 21 seeking answers to key questions arising. Chair Designate of Sport Ireland, Kieran Mulvey appeared before you last week (October 21) and also made a statement on the issue.

Sport Ireland is still awaiting a response in relation to the questions poised.

The resignation provoked a huge public and media reaction. Most of the relevant information is in the public domain. It seems clear that the failure to agree the non-financial arrangements led to the resignation of Billy Walsh.

Supporting Irish Boxing

Under Section 11 (2) of the Sport Ireland Act (2015), the provision of assistance (including financial) to a body who fails to meet any of the applicable criteria, terms or conditions may lead to the withholding of assistance.

That said, Sport Ireland has a long record of supporting the IABA and the HP Unit.  The IABA has been given very substantial financial support on an increased basis against a backdrop of reductions across the sports sector. Indeed, investment in the High Performance programme increased 12% following London, while core administration also increased by 12%.

Sport Ireland welcomed the appointment of Joe Christle of Chairman of the IABA, the appointment of Fergal Carruth as CEO and the recent election of Pat Ryan as President. These changes presented an opportunity to recast the relationship between the IABA and Sport Ireland. This was something which Joe Christle committed himself to in meetings with me. 

The appointment of executives in the area of Finance and Marketing were designed to build the capacity of the IABA.

Sport Ireland has honoured its commitments under the London Debriefs.  The appointment of additional coaching staff has been supported. The recommendation that a new Operations Manager be appointed has been supported.

However, the governance changes recommended in the review of London 2012 (London Debrief) have not been implemented by the IABA.  Specifically there were changes suggested to the committee structure of the IABA and to reporting arrangements with the HP Unit. The requests of Billy Walsh on the non-financial aspects of his role were not inconsistent with the recommendations of the London Debrief.

SUMMARY (Remarks of John Treacy to the Committee).

·         High Performance sport is an internationally competitive business and talented people move between systems and are well remunerated. It is no surprise that Billy Walsh was approached.  Our initiatives here were base on a belief that Billy could be persuaded to stay and that the IABA had a sincere desire to retain him.   

·         Billy Walsh has departed and we wish him well in the USA. It is important to put on record our appreciation of his contribution to Irish sport. Billy is an extraordinary coach and was in effect doing two jobs since 2008. He had developed sophisticated and rare skills particularly in the performance environment and he will be missed.

·         However he leaves a legacy. There are exceptionally talented boxers, coaches and service providers within the IABA system that will continue to perform and hopefully excel at Rio 2016. We have confidence in them and will continue to support them.  

·         It is also important to acknowledge the contribution of the wider IABA to the success of the HP Unit.  The clubs and the volunteers do excellent work; to state that this is not understood or appreciated by Sport Ireland is unfair and not correct.

·         This finds practical expression through substantial grant aid. The IABA receives the highest level of Sport Ireland grant funding for its High Performance Programme (€925,000 in 2015). It received the fifth highest ‘core’ grant in 2015 (€431,716) and over the past two years has seen investment from Sport Ireland increase by 12%. 

·         It is accepted that there has been a tension within the IABA between the HP Unit and the rest of the organisation. Comments published in the media and attributed to named board members simply endorse that view.

·         The IABA stated on October 23 that the majority of negotiations with Billy Walsh were on financial matters. It was clear from the outset that the non-financial matters were paramount. Sport Ireland cannot understand a 9 month negotiation process that excluded serious discussion on the key issue.

·         The requests of Billy Walsh on the non-financial aspects of his role were consistent with the recommendations of the London Debrief, the official review of Ireland’s performances at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

·         It is worrying that the Chairman never felt confident that he could get a proposal voted through by his board. This suggests that the HP Unit does not enjoy the confidence of a significant element within the IABA. This fracture within the IABA must be addressed once and for all.

·         Furthermore the absence of a board decision is a corporate governance issue. Questions of a governance and operational nature do arise from what is known about recent events.

·         Sport Ireland is not involved in any attempt to undermine the IABA. It has consistently supported al activities of the IABA event through times when it was challenging to do so.

·         Some of the comments attributed to the IABA were a clear attempt at misdirection and distracted away from the failure to retain Billy Walsh.

·         Our intervention here was based on our belief, shared with the IABA, that Billy could be retained.  Sport Ireland has statutory responsibility regarding HP sport and makes no apology for working to retain Billy Walsh.

·         Sport Ireland has written to the IABA with a series of questions to find how this matter unfolded and await an appropriate response.  Attributing blame will not bring Billy back, however, it is imperative that we examine the factors that led to Billy’s departure and never again lose world class talent, needlessly.

·         The fundamental issue is how the events of the past weeks and months impact on the long term health of the HP Unit in the IABA.  

·         As the statutory agency for sport, we have a responsibility and a duty to ensure that public investment in governing bodies is supported by effective corporate governance. There is a legitimate interest in investigating and understanding what happened. 

·         We are strongly of the view that the overreliance of the IABA on Sport Ireland funding is not healthy and is one underlying factor that leads to tension. The past few days have demonstrated that there is an enormous amount of public interest in Irish boxing.  Surely the IABA has missed an opportunity to benefit from this public interest in recent years. 

·         Specifically, Sport Ireland does not seek to control those functions that are rightfully under the authority of the National Governing Body. However the NGB must acknowledge the legitimate and statutory obligation of oversight vested in Sport Ireland.

·         To conclude Sport Ireland is accountable to this Committee, to the Minister and to the Oireachtas. In turn those bodies that are funded by Sport Ireland must accept levels of oversight consistent with the amount of taxpayers money invested in them.