GOVERNMENT ministers are considering positions on the board of Horse Sport Ireland, following the exit of Professor Niamh Brennan and Zoe Kavanagh.

In response to a query on the current make-up of the board from The Irish Field, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said: “Following the conclusion of the Paris Olympics, Mr Michael Dowling and Dr Kevin Smyth are to remain as Board members for a further term. Minister McConalogue is currently considering the other two positions in consultation with Minister Martin.

“The HSI constitution also provides for a Ministerial appointee to represent Northern Ireland. Following engagement with the Northern Ireland Sports Forum (NISF), the Minister is also considering this position in consultation with Minister Martin.”

The Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, in consultation with Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, appointed the chairman and three board members on November 17th 2022, to remain in place until after the Olympic Games. “The experienced and highly skilled Board provided the necessary stability and oversaw the required changes to the governance and operational effectiveness of HSI,” a DAFM spokesperson said.

Zoe Kavanagh, former CEO of the National Dairy Council, has recently taken over as CEO of Repak. Professor Niamh Brennan is a Professor of Management and Corporate Governance at UCD.

The amended constitution of HSI, which is one of the crux in the ongoing fallout between the governing body and a number of the large affiliates, provided for four industry appointees and three of these positions were appointed in June 2024.

They are Allison Mercer (Breeding and Production Advisory Forum), Dr Siobhan McAuliffe (Coaching and Education Forum) and Sue Foley (Equestrian Sport and Recreation Forum). The Board position representing the High Performance Forum remains vacant.

That is due to a number of affiliates, including Showjumping Ireland, Dressage Ireland, Para Equestrian Ireland and the Army Equitation School, not providing nominees. Therefore, the High Performance forum had no quorum and could not meet to elect a chair and select its candidate for consideration. There has been no further update to how the board will proceed to elect the final industry appointee.

Breakaway

As reported in last week’s edition, there is a move by a group of affiliates of HSI to create an alternative governing body for the sport horse industry. This comes off the back of claims that the aforementioned change made by HSI to its memorandum and articles in January constituted a move to exclude affiliates and downgrade grassroots representation.

In a letter on June 20th, seen by The Irish Field, the Minister McConalogue outlined his support for HSI and encouraged the breakaway affiliates to engage with HSI to ensure appropriate stakeholder representation.