A review into the workings of Cycling Ireland has found “historical irregularities” with the way the national governing body has registered UCI Continental teams, according to a statement it has issued today.
In its statement to members, the board of Cycling Ireland has committed to publishing some, though not all, of the KOSI report and the BDO report which resulted from separate examinations into different aspects of the national governing body’s workings.
“One unexpected outcome of the BDO investigation was the discovery of historical irregularities in Cycling Ireland’s registration of Irish UCI continental racing teams,” the board said in its statement today.
“A full disclosure was made to the UCI about this in April and we are currently engaging with them to ensure such issues do not arise again. New processes and procedures put in place by the new Board will ensure future compliance with all UCI requirements in this regard.”
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It added the Garda had made “enquiries” about false documents being used by Cycling Ireland to apply for Government grants two years ago, saying it had cooperated with gardai and would continue to do so.
Cycling Ireland's board has also said the body will honour a commitment to appear before a joint Oireachtas Committee – which are broadcast live and open to the media – about recent controversies and its governance standards.
In recent months the national governing body has been rocked by a number of controversies. It emerged incrementally late last year and into this year that it had used false documentation to apply for capital grants from the Department of Sport in 2020.
That result in Cycling Ireland being suspended for a year from applying for any further grants. In response to this serious development, Sport Ireland commissioned a KOSI report into the national governing body to examine its governance.
More recently, a dispute broke out within the national governing body about its plans to financially support a small group of riders within the Irish Continental team EvoPro Racing. A review, by auditors BDO, was commissioned by Cycling Ireland, which identified a range of issues.
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These included the financial stability of the team and issues with the criteria for selecting riders who were set to be supported in the Cycling Ireland-funded ‘academy’ within EvoPro Racing as well as possible conflicts of interest around some of the riders selected. The manner in which Cycling Ireland initially agreed to support the academy, the sum envisaged and how and when information about that was shared within Cycling Ireland all became contentious.
In recent months there has been a complete change of personnel in the board of Cycling Ireland, though there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on their part and some only joined the board after the controversies. Cycling Ireland was asked in February to appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media to face questions about the recent revelations.
Cycling Ireland's board has said in its statement this evening personnel from the national governing body will appear before the committee when the findings of the BDO report can be published. It added it would “seek to make the findings of both the KOSI Audit and the BDO report available to members, to the extent possible”.
The board's statement explained the BDO report, in draft format, had to be circulated to the relevant parties, adding only after that process was complete could the report be finalised. It suggested the delay caused by this process meant it felt unable to attend at the Oireachtas Committee.
“To enable a full and frank discussion of all the facts dealt with in the report, we requested a postponement,” the Cycling Ireland board said in its statement today. “For the avoidance of doubt, Cycling Ireland will appear before the Oireachtas as soon as we can.”
The statement
issued this evening also confirmed a number of other developments, as follows.
The vacant
seat on the board has been filled by former international rider Will Byrne, who
is also treasurer of Cycling Ireland.
A “consultation
and review process with members” announced by the board as part of a “root and
branch” review of the organisation began in Dublin today, with a consultative
session took place with 50 people selected by Cycling Ireland, from applications
received.
A number
of board sub committees have been established including; a ‘people and culture sub-committee’;
a ‘governance and compliance sub-committee’; an ‘audit, finance and risk
sub-committee’; a ‘high-performance management group’.
Board member
Emma Hunt-Duffy is “heading up a working group to look at commercial
opportunities for the organisation”.
