A BACKROOM row within Horse Sport Ireland has resulted in Ireland’s senior show jumping chef d’equipe Rodrigo Pessoa reconsidering his position after the resignation of High Performance Committee chairman Gerry Mullins, less than a year after his appointment.

In frank interviews with The Irish Field this week, Rodrio Pessoa said he was “very unhappy” while Gerry Mullins claimed he was effectively ousted by “experts’’ with a “toxic’’ agenda against him.

Speaking to The Irish Field this evening, interim chairman of Horse Sport Ireland, Jim Beecher said: "I had hoped for a resolution with Gerry but it has not proved possible for a number of reasons up to now. The only one responsible for that is myself.

"Edward Doyle was appointed interim chairman of the High Performance Committee by the Board of HSI by consensus. A permanent appointment to the position of the chairman of the High Performance Committee will be made as soon as possible."

Problems first began at the end of October when Mullins clashed with Horse Sport Ireland over a questionnaire he wanted to send out to riders.

Mullins resigned claiming his job was being interfered with. Pessoa said relations had improved and Mullins was on track to step back into his role.

However, at a meeting of the HSI board on Tuesday, Edward Doyle was named as the interim chairman of the High Performance Committee. That happened just one day after the senior team had been honoured for their European Championship gold medal win achievement at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel.

Commenting on the last few weeks, Rodrigo Pessoa said: “I must say I am very unhappy, that’s a fact. There had been some problems internally with Gerry, with Horse Sport Ireland, some power fights which led to the resignation of Gerry, which was maybe jumping the gun a little but maybe he thought it was the right thing to do at the time.

“Since then there has been talks about many things and they seemed to be coming well but at the board meeting the other day, it came as a big surprise that they didn’t support him.

“I am very disappointed. Part of why I took this job, when they presented the job, was because the High Performance committee were people I wanted to work with. We got on very well, we worked very well together, and we made things happen.”

He added: “High Performance was going well, there are a lot of other problems that need the attention of the CEO at the moment. This is really a setback. In a championship year, bringing instability to the group.”

Pessoa said he was keeping up with the issue from his base in Connecticut, talking to all the big players.

“I have been a talking a little bit to Ronan Murphy (CEO HSI) and Jim Beecher (Interim Chairman HSI) and Michael Blake, trying to calm things down when they got a little hot and trying to reason with them. It is difficult from a distance.

“I spoke to Ronan before the meeting and it seemed like they had a good understanding but it was a big surprise that they didn’t find it [the solution].”

POLITICAL CLOUD

Pessoa said: “The most alarming thing is people voting know nothing about high performance, and they are voting on high performance? It is just a shame that after the year we had, this political cloud comes to darken the end of the year.

Asked about how he currently feels about his position as chef d'equipe, Pessoa said: “I put a lot of thought into this. I have to think about my position, it’s a natural feeling. My heart is with this team, but it’s not a secret that I have been approached by others in the fall (autumn). I really wish I didn’t have to, but I have to reconsider.

"I don’t want to do political things. I want to focus on the best team with the back-up of the committee, but if that is not possible, I hate to do it.”

Referring to past problems, Pessoa said: “It’s a shame that we couldn’t do one time around the clock without trouble. This could be a period of enjoying the awards the team have got. We are supposed to be finding sponsorship and budget for next year and instead this is going on. I think it is really a disappointment.

“As of now, this is it, but we don’t know that things cannot also change. If there is no way back for Gerry, maybe someone else can do a good job. It is a shame to have to restart something that is proven to work well.”

TOXIC SITUATION

Gerry Mullins said: “It is a very toxic situation. In my mind, somebody has orchestrated this. Something very good is happening in Irish equestrian sport and many teams abroad are trying to copy HSI High Performance. We have a strong group of people. I was forced into making a decision to resign because I felt the possibility of us being able to continue the good work was going to be lessened by unnecessary interference.

"I wanted to send out a questionnaire, to find out what the riders thought themselves. I had sent out one before and we got a good reply, it guided our policies. I wanted to send out a similar one a while ago. It was not given the green light. It was a very trivial routine question in the questionnaire so I thought now what else is going to be blocked going forward?

Asked who put the kibosh on his questionnaire, Mullins would only say, "It was not the chairman Jim Beecher anyway".

"I have tried for a resolution to have taken place. I would earnestly love that. I had the full backing of Jim Beecher and he was the man who was there all year, found our committee was properly run, we did our job.

"I had been led to believe it was going to be sorted. On more than one occasion over the last month, I had been led to believe that the issues were solved only to find then some kind of juxtaposition of the effort. I had no communication with regard to the board meeting that took place this week. I did have a meeting with the chairman Jim Beecher and others three weeks ago and all were of the opinion that this could be sorted for the good of all."

Asked what went wrong so, Mullins replied: "There is obviously some who would prefer it not be sorted, individuals, a group, very many experts causing this kind of mayhem. I want to say openly that I got 100% support from Jim Beecher all along. I had the full backing of the High Performance Committee. I believe I had a very strong backing from the majority if not all the international riders. We must give respect to our riders. That is what I'm worried about now. I have the greatest of respect for them.

“The only reason I resigned was I felt that if we are going to blocked in doing the normal stuff that is required to produce a team and team spirit, what then? The way back, if there is to be any way back, is very simple. Those who are stirring this discontent need to stop it. Let the team and the High Performance Committee get on with the job. High Performance is about High Performance, it is not about low performance.

"Those who are blocking my return should cease to do that. They should take a good look at themselves in the mirror. This is a very negative and toxic move by some people to try to demean and discourage the effort that was made last year.

“I wish our team the very best. I’m very thankful to those I worked with. Michael Blake and Taylor Vard worked tirelessly, Rodrigo is top class, he gave us good leadership. He has worked extremely hard and I hope this will not put him off the efforts he makes. I'd like to thank our team sponsors, Devenish and the Underwriting Exchange, very good sponsors. What we achieved is a good story that must continue. I hope that regardless of me back or not, I would like to think that we have put something in place that will help future success.

“We have the World Equestrian Games next year and qualification for the Olympics, this has stopped with all this going on. We are looking into a precipice (edge of a cliff), a lot of things need to be put in place,” Mullins concluded.

Mullins, who spent his career in the Army Equitation School, has made show jumping, riding and coaching his life's work and hobby.

"I have been involved with teams over the years at all levels. I was on the FEI Jumping Committee for five years. Show jumping, course designing, coaching, riding is my life's work and hobby. I do and have given a positive contribution. The coaching system used by HSI for example is one I helped to write," said Mullins.

SURPRISE OFFER

Edward Doyle commented: “The role came up unexpectedly and I was happy to take it as it is a very important role. Roles should not be left vacant as it’s not good for team spirit especially in such an important year.

“Hopefully I can help with the management and keep riders on the road that they worked hard to be on. Management needs to do their part in supporting them. Hopefully I can play my part in helping the team build on their success.”

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