HORSE Sport Ireland’s chief executive Denis Duggan has recused himself from the selection panel to find Ireland’s next senior show jumping High Performance manager. HSI confirmed the update to The Irish Field on Friday following weeks of disquiet surrounding the make-up of the panel.

A HSI spokesperson said: “Under the HSI Constitution and Board Terms of Reference, the management and interview process of the next Horse Sport Ireland Jumping High Performance Manager is a matter delegated to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

“In light of an allegation of bias, received from a potential applicant, which the CEO wholeheartedly refutes, and in the interests of ensuring a fair, robust and transparent process, the CEO indicated last week to the HSI Board of Directors that he will replace himself with an independent chair.

“As the application process is now underway and closing today, further information regarding the interview panel or process will be shared directly with applicants. Further public comment at this time is not appropriate.”

This comes following a letter sent by the outgoing Irish senior show jumping manager Michael Blake to the Minister for Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, and the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, Sport Ireland and Horse Sport Ireland last week, accusing Duggan of bias against him. The letter stated: “Given that Mr Duggan has publicly issued false and damaging claims regarding my professional actions and integrity, it is impossible for him to act impartially or credibly in any process assessing my suitability for reappointment as chef d’equipe.

“Any involvement by him in that process would therefore constitute a serious conflict of interest and a breach of fair-procedure principles under both the Sport Ireland code of governance for sport and HSI’s own conduct policy.”

In the letter, Blake added: “My objective in writing is not to seek favour but to ensure a fair and transparent process for the good of the sport.”

It is understood Blake received receipt of acknowledgment from the Minister for Sport but no direct response. It is believed he has reapplied to lead Ireland to the next Olympic Games in LA as the deadline for applications for the job closed on Friday (October 24th) at 5pm.

Tender process

In a letter to athletes in late September, Duggan confirmed HSI were launching a Request for Tender (RFT) to appoint “High-Performance Services for Senior Jumping” and stated that the selection panel would be made up of himself, HSI chief operating officer Avalon Everett, a representative of High Performance, Sport Ireland, and an international (non-Irish) non-conflicted jumping expert.

This was followed by 44 show jumping athletes requesting changes to the selection panel for the new HP service provider and it is now understood that they have approval to nominate two experts to the panel. HSI did not confirm this, however, in a letter to the eventing athletes sent this week, Mr Duggan said: ‘in the jumping process currently underway, we have committed to including at least one domestic jumping expert nominated by the athletes, subject to no conflicts’.

According to Barry O’Connor, acting as spokesperson for the athletes, an agreement was reached that “we (the show jumpers) will send a list of people and then, once all the applicants are in, HSI will pick two people from our list who have no perceived conflicts of interest”.

“It is a positive step, but we will still be working towards getting more say in the High Performance programme,” O’Connor said.

“We started with no representative on the panel and now we have two people. We were just looking for a fair and transparent process to pick the best people and have the best system in place to work toward winning championship medals.

“We felt it was important to have experienced equestrians, people with skin in the game. At the end of the day, people’s livelihoods are built on this sport - you can’t have the sport without making a living and you can’t make a living without the sport. Also, when we talk about stakeholders, I’d say that what’s perceived sometimes as ‘conflict of interest’ is actually people who have a deep and current understanding of what’s needed and that should be kept in mind.

“We need a better High Performance programme, we need more funding, more engagement, and now we have to hope that the process works out and the right person is chosen to help us get that.”