Important move to a fresh future

The removal of voting rights from past presidents and honorary life members symbolised an important move by delegates of the newly formed Swim Ireland at their a.g.m. in Dublin yesterday.

It was the first time since the jailing of Olympic coach Derry O'Rourke in February of last year for abusing young children that the swimming body has been seen to take a deliberate move to sever its links with the past, a decision which was warmly greeted by members of the group representing parents and victims for change in the sport.

In a meeting which never reached the same pitch of recrimination and anger as the last meeting in January, many of the elder members of the association subsequently engaged in a solemn procession to the top table to deposit their delegate slips before finally leaving the room.

"I can say this is the saddest day I have experienced," said former president Harry Kavanagh. "People are being branded as being responsible for events within the association which happened in the past."

While several of the delegates in attendance pointed to the days when O'Rourke and George Gibney ran the sport with impunity as infinitely more bleak, the move was seen as an important change in attitude from the sport.

"Small moves have been made but it will take more time," said Maura Cunningham, spokesperson for the campaigners for change. "There has still been no apology from Swim Ireland, there has been no accountability whatsoever for what went on in the sport during that time."

While apologies and accountability appear to be tied up in the swathe of civil actions currently being taken against the association and some member clubs, Cunningham went on to state that the restoration of the funding by the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr Jim McDaid, should not automatically follow.

She also pointed to the deep-rooted anger which still exists in the sport because of fundamental issues which have not been discussed and important questions on the association's handling of the abuse cases which have not been answered.

"We still haven't achieved real change yet," she said. "A lot of people believe I am the enemy of swimming. I am not. The people who kept quiet about Derry O'Rourke are the enemies of swimming."

Another contentious issue that arose was the role of coaches in the organisation. The Murphy Report, a Government inquiry into the running of swimming in Ireland and conducted in the wake of the O'Rourke scandal by Roderick Murphy SC, listed in its recommendations: "that a professional coach should not be a member of the committee of a club nor a delegate to the Branch or to the association."

Contrary to that recommendation a vote of the delegates decided that coaches would be allowed to hold official positions on the board of Swim Ireland.

The meeting actually began with a walk-out from the campaigning group after a decision was taken to vote for officers first before attending to the 131 amendments listed.

"We are walking out in protest," said Cunningham. You will see that the same people who are in position now will be voted in again. There will be no change."

The decision by the meeting to carry out business in that order ensured that the positions of treasurer and secretary were decided by the elected board rather than by a delegate vote. From the next a.g.m. onwards those two positions will be decided by delegates, not the board.

In any event the walk-out had the desired effect of registering protest and the members subsequently arrived back to contribute to the rest of the meeting which, despite the surge of anger over the issue of past presidents and honorary life members, settled down to become an ordered event. And that alone was progress.

Further decisions affected the composition of the executive board. In an effort to bring in regular new blood to the decision-making process, it was agreed that board members can stand for only three years before stepping down. They must then allow one year before seeking re-election.

In all, around 130 people attended including a greater number of younger members, mostly from Trinity, which was seen to be encouraging. However, approximately 47 of the 146 listed clubs in Ireland were not affiliated to Swim Ireland, one of the reasons being, according to a student delegate, because they had to sign up to the rules and regulations of the association, which do not yet exist.

Swim Ireland officers: President: Alice McKibbin (Ulster); chairman: Dr Tim Wyatt (Ulster); treasurer: W Clarke (Ulster); secretary: P O'Donovan (Munster); hon legal advisor: G Gannon (Munster); PRO: C Mulholland (Connacht); Ulster representatives: B Beattie, B Bree; Leinster representatives: M Kavanagh, J O'Mahony; Munster representatives: N Crowe, D Mahon; Connacht representatives: R Ball, J Kearney.