Independent regulator needed to ensure safeguarding of high performing athletes – Ní Chuilinn

An independent regulatory body must be established to oversee child and athlete safeguarding concerns in Irish sport, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

The Joint Oireachtas Sport Committee today heard evidence from representatives of Sport Ireland, Rowing Ireland and the Federation of Irish Sport in relation to high performance athlete welfare and safeguarding.

Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn said: “I called for this session shortly after we heard the FAI’s response to the alleged historic abuse of women who played football for Ireland in the 1990s. It was clear at that hearing last September that the reporting structures for any kind of abuse or mistreatment were either flawed or non-existent”.

Today, the Committee also dealt with alleged intimidation and emotional abuse within the high-performance programme at Rowing Ireland since 2017.

“The red flag is that 12 rowers were referred to a consultant psychiatrist for assessment and treatment. This means that despite stated best intentions and athlete welfare policies and workshops, the reality on the ground hasn’t improved,” Senator Ní Chuilinn continued.

“I was disappointed today that Rowing Ireland’s CEO Michelle Carpenter and High Performance Lead Coach Dominic Casey didn’t accept our invitation to give testimony to the committee. It could have been very helpful.

“We’ve got hundreds of young people involved in high performance sport, which is a credit to the coaching and funding structures overseen by Sport Ireland. But on the evidence of today’s committee hearing and the previous appearance by the FAI, we don’t appear to have adequate protections in place across all sports for athletes who are having a negative experience in their high performance programme.

“While some sports do have internal complaints and reporting structures – these are internal, with no independent oversight.

“This means that athletes, some as young as 12 or 15 who, are involved in development squads and desperate to represent Ireland have no way to safely raise a concern without being worried about potential repercussions for their careers.

“No external independent pathway exists for athletes who feel unable for whatever reason to raise their concerns in the same manner employees would be entitled to do under Whistleblowing legislation.

“While some National Governing Bodies (NGB) like Swim Ireland have robust child protection and athlete safeguarding processes in place, this is entirely driven by individual CEOs. However, in the instance of an NGB without this strong leadership, athletes have no such protection. Equally some sports do not have the internal expertise or resources to handle these types of complaints.

“We’ve had safeguarding alarm bells ringing now across a range of government-funded high performance programmes including women’s football, HP rowing, and equine sport.

“There is clear evidence of a need to establish an independent regulator with investigative powers, so that athletes and staff can report safeguarding concerns in a formal and confidential way, outside of their NGB.”