Election dispute rumbles on

THE new chairperson of the Show Jumping Association of Ireland, Patricia Furlong is confident the legal advice she received concerning the validity of last month’s Leinster Region election is above reproach.

A motion passed at the regional AGM declared the postal vote election null and void, after it emerged the region’s Emergency Committee had opted to extend the election closing date by three days, citing a postal strike. Members on the night voted that the election should be re-run.

But Ms Furlong - then Leinster Region chairperson - subsequently sought the opinion of the SJAI solicitor, who deemed the motion invalid and, yesterday, she said she had no reason to doubt this.