Cycling Ireland president, Liam Collins, has publicly expressed his concerns at the manner in which the national governing body is operating and says he fears relations within the board of the organisation will not improve.
He has signaled his intention to resign early, has asked the appointed members of the board to resigned and has also called for the elected members to resign, like him, before the next Cycling Ireland AGM later this year. He also pointed out any board members who resigned could put themselves forward for election at the AGM in nine months.
In a statement, Collins said it seemed to him that “board relations are far from ideal and there appears to be little prospect of matters improving” in the near future. He added this was “a regretful situation, but it is a fact that the members of Cycling Ireland are not being served by a unified, cohesive board”.
The latest developments tonight, Saturday, come just days after Cycling Ireland admitted false quotations had been used by the organisation when it was applying for capital grants from the Department of Sport almost two years ago.
Cycling Ireland had two grants provisionally approved, though they were withdrawn. The matter was then referred for review to the Garda, by the Department of Sport, in October 2020.
Sport Ireland also commissioned KOSI, a consultancy firm with a speciality in governance, to carry out a report into Cycling Ireland. And now Sport Ireland is supervising Cycling Ireland as the recommendations of that KOSI report at being implemented.
Cycling Ireland was also sanctioned by the Department over the submission of the false quotations, by being suspended from applying for further grants for 12 months. News that there were issues with the grant applications was first reported by stickybottle in December.
Collins, who was elected president of Cycling Ireland at the AGM late last year, is now requesting that the appointed members of the board resign.
He says if the three appointed board members resign it would leave four vacancies on the board. He added it was his intention to ask Sport Ireland “to assist Cycling Ireland in selecting four members to the board of Cycling Ireland, as soon as possible”.
Collins
has said he plans to resign before the next AGM of the organisation, obviously meaning
he will not complete his full term. And in a statement he has asked all of the
other elected members of the board to resign before the next AGM.
“The
request for the resignation of board members is in no way a reflection on
anyone individually but is solely in the interests of Cycling Ireland,” he said, confirming his decision to resign
before the next AGM in November for the same reason.
“Ahead of
the appointment of the five new directors – four by Sport Ireland and one by
Connacht Cycling – the board will not be involved in or interfere with the
day-to-day operations of Cycling Ireland and will leave the CEO and management
team run the business.
“The major priority for the newly established board will be to fully implement the recommendations of the KOSI report as soon as possible.”
Collins added the idea of holding an EGM in the short term had been mooted by one club. He had no objection to that, but he believed his plan may result in a more stable period that would allow the next AGM take place in November in better circumstances.
