Funding reinstated to Swim Ireland

THE Irish Sports Council have reinstated suspended funding to Swim Ireland.

The ISC refused to issue fourth-quarter 2003 monies to the national governing body in December, claiming that the Association had failed to implement a Deloitte and Touche report into their corporate governance.

However the Sports Council stress that funding for 2004 remains conditional on the implementation of the key points in that report.

Yet Swim Ireland state that they must put the matters before their members for ratification before they can progress any further.

The swimming body will hold an EGM on Saturday, February 14, to review and pass the recommendations ahead of their AGM which is due in April.

“We welcome the announcement,” Swim Ireland’s spokesperson Claire Mulholland said yesterday. “Many of the recommendations which we will discus came from members of our Board and were amalgamated together by Deloitte and Touche.”

“The report, which was given to the ISC on Thursday December 2003, was made available to the director’s during the following week, immediately prior to the Christmas holidays. As a result, the earliest possible date for the directors to meet to consider the report was January 10.”

“As the ISC is aware, Swim Ireland is a democratic body, and many of the recommendations made in the report can only be enacted by the members at an AGM.”

“While noting that the Deloitte and Touche Report makes recommendations, the Board are somewhat worried by comments made in the media and attributed to the CEO of the Irish Sports Council, stating that compliance with the recommendations is mandatory and a condition for the restoration of funding.”

“As a democratic body, Swim Ireland has to place these recommendations before their members, and the Board, while advocating the adoption of the same cannot guarantee that all will be accepted by the membership.”

“The Board would appreciate clarification on this point.”