A FORMER chief executive of the Athletic Association of Ireland (AAI) Mary Coghlan has told the High Court that John Treacy and Ossie Kilkenny communicated their unhappiness about her appointment directly to her not long after she took up the job.
Both men set out their views to her in two separate meetings, Ms Coghlan said. She had decided she would just let both of them “get it off their chests” and hope they could move on, she added.
She said Mr Treacy, chief executive of the Irish Sports Council (ISC), told her at a meeting on May 4th, 2008, very soon after her appointment, that he was not satisfied with the process under which she was appointed and believed she did not have enough management experience.
Mr Kilkenny, chairman of the ISC, who is alleged to have described Ms Coghlan as a “cancer” in the AAI, told her at a meeting on July 4th, 2008, he was also unhappy and had said so when another member of the AAI’s staff was present. “I found that quite humiliating,” she said.
Ms Coghlan, a brother of 110m Olympic hurdler Peter Coghlan, was giving evidence on the second day of her action against the ISC and the AAI over her dismissal in July 2009.
She claims it was invalid and that she was defamed by AAI president John Hennessy in comments made to an Oireachtas committee. She also claims the ISC was guilty of misfeasance by putting pressure on the AAI to fire her.
The defendants deny the claims and Mr Kilkenny has pleaded the “cancer” remark was not a reference to Ms Coghlan.
Yesterday, Ms Coghlan said she was a mathematics graduate from Oxford who had more than 15 years’ experience in the financial services industry and in corporate governance.
She became involved in athletics through her strong family interest. In 2006, she was elected chair of the AAI’s finance committee and became CEO in May 2008 on a salary of €110,000 with a €20,000 bonus.
Although Mr Treacy and Mr Kilkenny expressed their dissatisfaction early on, the first difficulties arose in relation to the appointment of a director of athletics, she said. The ISC insisted on having two representatives on the interview board, rather than the one originally proposed and, in the interest of goodwill, the AAI agreed to allow two ISC interviewers.
The others were four AAI members and a human resources consultant.
When the 20 candidates were narrowed down to just two, Paul Doyle and Chris Jones, one of the two ISC members, Fintan Kirwan, objected to Mr Doyle, alleging Mr Doyle had a conflict of interest because he had a management agency for athletes in the US, Ms Coghlan said. Mr Doyle said he would appoint someone else to manage his company and this resolved the issue, she said.
Earlier, two witnesses for Ms Coghlan said their clear recollection of the meeting at which Mr Kilkenny allegedly told the AAI to “remove this cancer within us” was that the remark referred to Ms Coghlan.
Patrick Fay, chairman of AAI’s coaching and development and John Allen, a member of the AAI, said they believed the reference was to her and she would have to be removed or the AAI would not get funding from the ISC.
The case resumes on Tuesday.
