Angela Flanagan becomes first independent director appointed to IHRB board

Angela Flanagan, a former special adviser to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, has been appointed the first independent director on the board of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB).

Confirmation of the appointment came from the Minister for Agriculture, Food & Marine Charlie McConalogue, who welcomed Flanagan’s addition to the board of racing’s regulatory body, starting on January 1st.

The addition of independent members to the IHRB board was a key recommendation of an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture report released a year ago on the back of a series of hearings into anti-doping in Irish racing.

Those hearings took place during the summer of 2021 following claims by leading trainer Jim Bolger about drug use in the sport.

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Bolger said doping was the sector’s number one problem and that he had no faith in the IHRB’s drug testing. He was invited to appear before the Committee but declined to do so.

It later emerged that Bolger appeared to base much of his claims on information from the former trainer Stephen Mahon. He suggested there were links between him whistleblowing to the IHRB about drug use at a particular yard and his subsequent suspension for breaking animal welfare rules.

The Oireachtas Committee concluded it was happy with drug testing standards carried out by the IHRB.

Earlier this year a report into the regulatory body’s anti-doping programme carried out by Australian expert, Dr Craig Suann, said it “does at least match international best practice in most respects and has made significant advances in recent years”.

In May the IHRB advertised for two independent voluntary members to serve on its board. A governance director and a financial director were sought to “increase transparency and accountability at board level.”

Flanagan is the first appointee. In the past she has served as adviser to both Varadkar and Kenny when they served as Taoiseach.

A key specification for the new roles is that appointees have not been “in the past or currently an employee or representative in the industry” and they don’t have “personal ties to the industry or close family connections/involvement in the industry.”

The Minister for Agriculture said on Monday night the IHRB was no exception to his wish for more women to be appointed to boards across organisations in agriculture and related sectors.

Addressing online an IHRB equine anti-doping and medication control seminar to industry professionals he said: “With that in mind I welcome the recent appointment of the first independent director to the board of the IHRB, Angela Flanagan, who will join the board on January 1st.”

On the back of recent criticism by TD Paul Murphy about €42 million of State funding being given to prize money last year, McConalogue defended racing’s status as a world leader, although he stressed the importance of the sport’s integrity.

“Irish racing’s continued strength and hard-earned reputation as a global leader is dependent on participants, stakeholders, and the public all having confidence in the integrity of the sport.

“Strong regulation is vital if we are going to sustain the strength of this industry on a national and global scale and retain the trust of stakeholders and the public. Breaches of rules or regulations should be taken extremely seriously and dealt with strongly,” he said.

In cross-channel regulatory news, the British Horseracing Authority said on Tuesday it will introduce its controversial new whip rules in February, a month before the Cheltenham festival.

New rules that include limiting use of the whip to the backhand position, and disqualifications in very serious cases, will have a staggered implementation with a four week ‘bedding-in period’ over jumps starting on January 9th.

During that period jockeys will be required to ride within the new rules but won’t be subject to the new penalty structures. Flat racing’s bedding-in period will start on February 27th.

The BHA also revealed that any disqualifications for breaching the new whip rules won’t be imposed on race day. Any such decisions will be made by a new whip review committee in the days afterwards. It means no impact on betting markets.