Sheahan seeks ‘root-and-branch’ surgery after Olympic failure

SENATOR Tom Sheahan did not mince his words in the Seanad last week when citing a “cancer” in Horse Sport Ireland for the failure of Ireland’s show jumpers to qualify a team for the Olympics.

The former Kerry South TD asked that the Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney or HSI chief executive Damian McDonald be invited to the house to “explain the health” of HSI.

Yesterday, Mr Sheahan said the failure to qualify a team for London 2012 was an indictment of HSI policy.

“The breeding policies that are in place are flawed. Cruising is the highest Irish stallion in the world rankings and he is only in 30th place. It is a disastrous indictment that we could not qualify for the Olympics.

“We should not have been in a jump-off for the last three places. We should have been already qualified for the Olympics. HSI is just plodding along. We need to get it refreshed. We should be in line for an Olympic medal, never mind not qualifying.

“I think this has done massive damage to the industry and it will be borne out in the next few years. There needs to be a root-and-branch look at the whole industry.”

Mr Sheahan, perhaps, let his cloak slip when he said “there is a clear-out needed in HSI”.

However, he said this was a “personal” view and he denied Fine Gael viewed the poor showing in Madrid as a means to supplant former Fianna Fáil agriculture minister Joe Walsh as the chairman of HSI.

“This is totally a personal view. I have not spoken to the Minister for Agriculture [Simon Coveney] about it... I absolutely reject that this is a move to take over HSI.”

HSI last week said it would undertake a review of the Irish performance. Mr Sheahan demanded that the results be open to scrutiny.

“The review should be independent and it should be published and laid before the houses of the Oireachtas,” he said.

A spokesman for HSI said they would appear at any forum within the Oireachtas or outside it to brief members on progress made by the body.