THE appointment of Dr Robert Huey to the board of Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) will not be reconsidered following the airing of information about his role in an industrial relations case in 2021.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, along with Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD and Minister of State with responsibility for Sport and Postal Policy, Charlie McConalogue TD, announced the appointment of Dr Huey, representing Northern Ireland, last Friday.

The announcement stated that Dr Huey (FRCVS) qualified from UCD as a veterinarian in 1983. “Following five years in mixed general practice, he joined the State Veterinary Service rising to the position of Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland in 2013,” it said. “Dr Huey retired from this position in 2024. In this position, he participated in the Departmental Board chaired by the Permanent Secretary and led the Veterinary Service Board, a Group with responsibility for 750 staff and 57 million in budget. He has significant board experience, including as President of the North of Ireland Veterinary Association, the Veterinary Public Health Association in the UK, the Union of European Meat Hygienists and Vice President and Treasurer of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe.”

However, during the week The Irish Times reported that an industrial tribunal found that Mr Huey engaged in “intimidating” and “patronising” actions towards a Northern Ireland Civil Service whistleblower.

The report cited a 2021 ruling in a constructive dismissal case won by the whistleblower, who later received a €1.44m settlement from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

“We found it to have been reasonable for the claimant to regard Mr Huey’s actions as intimidating, patronising and belittling and dismissive of her as a professional,” the ruling stated.

When asked by The Irish Field whether Minister Heydon was aware of Mr Huey being named in the ruling, a spokesperson replied “no”.

“Mr Huey was questioned whether he had any conflicts of interest in relation to the role for which he was been considered,” the spokesperson said. “He declared he had none. The Minister is satisfied that Dr Huey has the required expertise and governance experience to effectively contribute as a Director to the Board of HSI.”

Five candidates were interviewed for the Northern Ireland position on the board by a department Official and a representative of the Northern Ireland Sports Forum “to evaluate the competencies and skills that were needed to complement the skillset of the board as a whole”.

Board member

Also announced as a new board member was David Markey, who founded publishing house IFP Media in 1975 with the Irish Farmers Monthly title. He was a member of the RDS Industry and Commerce Committee from 2011 to 2018, was President of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists.

The Constitution for HSI provides that the Board include nine Directors, five (one to be the Northern), including the chair, appointed by the Minister for Agriculture in consultation with the Minister for Sport, and four industry representatives.

Of those four, the ‘high performance’ seat remains vacant.