Ex-Wales rugby international Amanda Bennett to lead Rowing Ireland independent review

The review has been announced after some athletes in the Irish rowing system disclosed troubling experiences

Minister Patrick O'Donovan said Amanda Bennett is "ideally positioned" to carry out the review. Pic: ©INPHO/Detlev Seyb

Former Welsh rugby international Amanda Bennett has been appointed to conduct an independent review into the organisational culture of Rowing Ireland’s high-performance programme.

Bennett is now a consultant in sports governance and has worked across that space with different organisations including the Football Association in England, the Irish Rugby Football Union and smaller voluntary sporting bodies.

Kathryn Ball, a high-performance consultant and former British rower who competed in the 1984 Olympic Games, will support her in a process that will begin in the coming weeks and is due to be complete by the end of the year.

The review has been announced by Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, and Minister for State for Sport and Postal Policy, Charlie McConalogue TD on the back of the troubling experiences of some athletes in the sport’s system.

A number of rowers detailed their experiences under a system led until late 2024 by Italian Antonio Maurogiovanni in a series of articles published in the Sunday Independent, which in turn led to a controversial Oireachtas committee meeting.

Contact was made with the committee chair and vice-chair prior to one session by CEO Michelle Carpenter who did not subsequently attend and has since been on leave, while other Rowing Ireland and Sport Ireland representatives came in for a serious grilling.

The committee vice-chair, Senator Evanne Ni Chuilinn, called at the time for a “truly independent, external, safe reporting system” for athletes in rowing’s high-performance system.

Government ministers also proposed an independent review of the safeguarding process, procedures and timelines relating to the rowing issue with Rowing Ireland confirming that it would fully cooperate with that and any recommendations that would follow.

“I want to acknowledge the experiences shared by some athletes in the Rowing Ireland High-Performance Programme and commend their courage in coming forward,” said Minister O’Donovan.

“Amanda has significant experience in the sports sector as both an athlete and governance specialist, she is therefore ideally positioned to carry out this important work. During the process she will engage with current and former high-performance rowers to hear their experiences, views and ideas.”