Break point at Tennis Ireland amid rows over governance

An unauthorised payment made to a coach and a review into the board's effectiveness are causing disquiet at Tennis Ireland

There are concerns that funding for the game here might be affected over issues raised by a board member of Tennis Ireland.

On September 9 last, John Treacy, CEO of Sport Ireland, and Suzanne Gunn, a lawyer with the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), received an email from a board member of Tennis Ireland. 

The missive was copied to all the other directors of Tennis Ireland, the umbrella body for the game north and south of the border, which receives around €750,000 annually in the Republic from the funding body, Sport Ireland.

The email was sent by Clifford Carroll, a Cork-based long-standing member of the board. He wrote that he was writing “to all of you to voice my concerns” regarding a payment to a coach in Tennis Ireland. 

Tennis Ireland chief executive Richard Fahey. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

The payment of €2,520 was made 12 months earlier in September 2020. It was generated on foot of an invoice approved by another board member for hours worked by the coach outside his normal routine. Except, a number of different people in the organisation have queried the invoice, suggesting that it was based on a falsehood.

On 28 October 2020, Tennis Ireland chief executive Richard Fahey emailed the chairman, David O'Beirne, about it.

“As outlined last week and having reflected on it further, I am concerned with the payment that was made to X earlier this month,” Mr Fahey wrote.

“I believe that no work was carried out for the invoice amount submitted. When it was questioned, the finance department were told by (director) that the payment had been approved by the LB (Leinster Branch) officers and they were instructed to pay it.

“I have been reliably informed that the payment was the return of the 20% pay cut that was imposed on him during May and June. There are obvious HR and perhaps revenue implications if this was to become common knowledge.

A number of staff are aware that X received this payment and have said as much to me.

“I am concerned of the impact that this issue could have if the board become aware of this governance issue second hand and discover that you, and I were aware of the issue and did not inform them.” 

The pay cut referenced in the CEO’s mail was in relation to the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme in place for the pandemic. The board of Tennis Ireland had voted to pay their employees the amount of the EWSS rather than their full salary for the months of May and June 2020. 

This left employees with a shortfall and Mr Fahey was suggesting that the payment made to the coach equated to the difference. No such payment was made to any other employee of the 20 or so employed by Tennis Ireland.

Mr Fahey received a response, not from the chairperson, Mr O'Beirne, to whom he had written, but David Spillane, a board member representing the Leinster branch, who put the whole thing down to an error. 

“You have correctly highlighted an invoice that is both misleading and incorrectly detailed,” Mr Spillane wrote. “I am disappointed that we presented such an invoice for payment as it does not reflect the services provided or the reason for payment.” 

He went on to say that the coach “had provided services that accrued a fiscal and commercial benefit to Leinster Tennis by way of successfully recruiting and/or retaining participants for the Leinster Tennis junior squad programme 2020-21". 

Leinster Tennis now needs to rectify the issue you highlighted and, to this end, we will request a correctly worded invoice to be forwarded to us for the accounts.

Nowhere was there an explanation as to how an invoice that referenced work never carried out could be generated. Other board members dispute that any work whatsoever was carried out to justify any invoice. 

The Irish Examiner understands that despite the knowledge of the chairperson and Mr Spillane, the payment and issues around it were not brought to the attention of the other board members until raised by Mr Carroll at a meeting in July this year.

Following an objection at the July board meeting to the signing off of the accounts after Mr Carroll raised the issue of the payment, an investigation was conducted by a sub-committee of the board. This was completed last month. 

The investigation has been criticised in correspondence by Mr Fahey and others, particularly for a failure to interview some of the key personnel associated with the transaction.

Clifford Carroll, speaking as then president of Tennis Ireland in 2017.

In his email to board members, Sport Ireland and the ODCE on September 9, Clifford Carroll touched on a number of other issues apart from the payment, and concluded: “I believe that when the clubs are made aware of these issues we will face a backlash when they realise our core funding is at serious risk due to the reckless actions.” 

His email received a reply from the chairman, David O'Beirne, four days later. “Clifford, for the moment I do not propose to reply to your below email in any detail although I may do so in due course. It is, clearly, a matter for each of our board colleagues to decide how and when, if at all, he or she may wish to reply to you. Moreover, I expect some of the issues to which you refer in your email may be the subject of discussion at future Tennis Ireland board meetings.” 

The Irish Examiner submitted a number of questions about the €2,520 transaction to Tennis Ireland for the attention of the chairman. Among these were:

1. A disputed payment to a coach in the Autumn of 2020 was made following the creation of an invoice for services that I understand were not rendered. Is it accepted that that invoice was false and if so has there been any repercussion for the party who generated it?

2. What is the status of the actual payment?

3. Why was the board not informed of it officially as would be normal in this situation? I understand the board didn’t hear about it or even address the matter until July this year.

4. Did Mr Fahey, as CEO, raise concerns about this payment? If so with whom and what was the outcome?

A response was received nine days after the questions were submitted, saying that the matters were internal to Tennis Ireland and there would be no further comment.

'Certain issues within Tennis Ireland'

Issues around governance at Tennis Ireland appear to revolve around two loose camps, one from the Leinster branch and the other from Munster. In 2018, the election for the chair of the body took place and initially resulted in a tie between Clifford Carroll from Cork, and David O'Beirne, a Dublin solicitor. Following a dispute over whether the president of Tennis Ireland had a casting vote, a new vote was rescheduled for a later meeting at which Mr O'Beirne was successful.

However, the issues about which Sport Ireland and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement were contacted, if shown to have substance, require examination irrespective of any rivalries within the body. 

The email sent by board member Clifford Carroll on September 9 included the following allegations.

• 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 sub-committees of the board have not been convened for the last 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”.

Mr Carroll concludes his mail with the following: "I believe that when the clubs are made aware of these issues we will face a backlash when they realise our core funding is at serious risk due to the reckless actions of these individuals.” 

The concerns he has raised are shared by other board members. Robert Cummins, a Kilkenny-based director, who is chair of the Munster branch, responded to Clifford Carroll’s email by writing to David O'Beirne and copying all the other directors.

“I have tried my very best for the last two years to work with everybody including yourself to move tennis and our company forward. 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.” 

Robert Cummins then goes on to write about the position of the CEO, Richard Fahey. Mr Fahey has been CEO since January 2017. He is on a five-year contract which is due for renewal next January. Prior to working with Tennis Ireland he was the Director of Club Licensing with the FAI, where he was highly regarded. He has been linked to a return to the FAI as chief operating officer according to an Irish Examiner report last month. As highlighted above, Mr Fahey expressed concern to the chairman about the payment to the departed coach in the autumn of 2020.

In his email Robert Cummins makes reference to the position of the CEO.

“It is obvious now looking back that there has been an orchestrated plan to discredit the CEO and move him along. There were some outrageous allegations made concerning staff, the CEO, and staff relationships without any evidence whatsoever at some of the now 'unrecorded board meetings'. Of course, no one who made the allegations is prepared to put same in writing. It was all he said, she said etc. No written review of the CEO’s performance was produced/provided for the board needless to say.” 

Mr Cummins ended his email with the following: “Finally why didn’t you report the 'X' payment to us or instruct our financial director to report this to us as a board? I and other directors need and deserve a direct answer to this question. By not notifying me or the Audit & Risk Committee you put directors' reputations and the company at risk.

“It is with deep regret I find myself having to write such an email in this tone once again rather than focusing on normal tennis matters.” 

The Irish Examiner has established that a female board member did make a complaint of bullying in 2019. She conveyed her concerns to the chair but she did not receive any report back of any inquiry into her allegations. The matter was never formally raised at any board meetings. She resigned within months of making her allegation. The extent or nature of the alleged bullying is unclear.

The child protection sub-committee did convene earlier this year because an issue around protection at a club in Munster was brought to the board’s attention. However, there are no records of any of the board’s other sub-committees meeting since before the pandemic. A number of emails seen by the Irish Examiner reference allegations about board meetings about which some members claim they were not notified.

The chairman, Mr O'Beirne and the CEO, Mr Fahey, are understood to have approached Sport Ireland earlier this year to inform its CEO John Treacy about what was characterised as “dysfunction” at board level. As a result of the approach a standard review into management effectiveness was brought forward. The review is being conducted by the Institute of Public Administration.

On Friday, October 22, a list of detailed questions about the allegations around governance was sent to Tennis Ireland. A responding email noted that the questions had been passed onto the chairman that day. On October 30 a statement was received from the organisation.

“We received your queries and regard the matters raised as internal to the board of TI and in light of that it would be inappropriate for us to address the alleged issues. We have no comment to make in response to your queries.” 

Sport Ireland has stated that it is aware of “certain issues within Tennis Ireland”. 

“The IPA review of board effectiveness is not investigating any particular issue but should provide insight into how and why issues arise,” the spokesperson said. “It is ongoing but expected shortly.” 

Sport Ireland said it is not aware of an issue that is a matter for An Garda Síochána.

The statement said decisions on funding for 2022 have yet to be taken and there is no discussion on that currently.

He added: “In general terms any unresolved issues could affect funding if they were deemed sufficiently serious as to impact on an organisation’s ability to deliver.”