Mick Clifford: Rift deepens in Tennis Ireland as directors suspended over confidentiality

The suspensions follow accusations of breaching confidentiality in the wake of the publication in the 'Irish Examiner' of a report about major allegations of misgovernance issues at Tennis Ireland.

Three directors of Tennis Ireland, including the president, were last night suspended from the organisation's board. Two of the directors, Clifford Carroll and Robert Cummins, represented the Munster branch of Tennis Ireland and were suspended shortly after the start of a specially convened meeting last night. The president Shane Cooke, who refused to disassociate himself from the Munster directors, was later suspended. 

The suspensions follow accusations of breaching confidentiality in the wake of the publication in the Irish Examiner of a report about major allegations of misgovernance issues at Tennis Ireland.

A number of the directors who voted the three off the board were named in the allegations of misgovernance.

“I’m obviously disappointed but not surprised,” Mr Carroll told the Irish Examiner last night.

The suspensions deepen a rift that has beset Tennis Ireland for the last three years. It is now unclear how the Munster branch will be represented in the national organisation. 

Two weeks ago, the Irish Examiner published details of misgovernance allegations detailed in an email sent by Mr Carroll to board members, Sport Ireland, and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. 

The allegations included:

Board meetings are convened to which only a select number of directors are invited;

The organisation is currently being “governed by a human resources committee which has not been officially sanctioned by the board. They are directly interfering with the running of head office and the role of the CEO”;

Most subcommittees of the board have not been convened for two years;

The chairman recently advised that minutes will not be taken at non-executive board meetings (those excluding the CEO who is the only executive member of the board);

A bullying complaint which had been brought to the board’s attention had not been investigated. Mr Carroll alleged that when the chairperson was questioned about this at a board meeting, “he felt the meeting was not the proper forum to explain himself”.

Attempts to undermine the chief executive, Richard Fahey.

None of the allegations was denied, or even addressed, when put to Tennis Ireland by the Irish Examiner in a series of questions earlier this month. An investigation into a false invoice was conducted earlier this year after Mr Carroll insisted that annual accounts could not be signed off on until the matter was addressed. A sub-committee conducted an investigation which was criticised by CEO Mr Fahey for failing to interview key personnel associated with the transaction.

Governance being reviewed

Governance at the organisation is currently being reviewed by the Institute of Public Administration, at the request of Sports Ireland, the funding body for sports in the State.

Attempts were made by some board members, including Mr Cummins, to address issues at board level in recent years. This was best expressed in one email he sent to the chair of Tennis Ireland David O’Beirne, earlier this year.

“I have tried my very best for the last 2 years to work with everybody including yourself to move tennis and our company forward,” he wrote. “I am happy to work with anyone to that aim, but I am aghast at the behaviour of some people who will not follow any sort of recognised or written procedure to progress board matters in a legal or constructive fashion.”