Cycling Ireland can confirm that the Board of Cycling Ireland is being reconstituted. The following have stepped down from their positions on the Board and sub-committees of Cycling Ireland: Liam Collins, President and fellow board members Eugene Moriarty and Anthony Mitchell. This will leave sufficient board members to enable the board to be re-constituted with the support of Sport Ireland.
A new President will be elected at the next AGM in November 2022. In the meantime, current Vice President, solicitor and former Irish national cycling team member, Conor Campbell, will continue in this role.
With the support of Sport Ireland to this reconstitution, Cycling Ireland is also pleased to announce the nominations for appointment of six new directors to its Board including barrister and leading anti-doping expert, Louise Reilly, barrister, Susan Ahern, the former head of Legal and Compliance at World Rugby, and Emma Hunt-Duffy, Head of Marketing for Fyffes. All are exceptionally qualified directors with proven domestic and international experience. Gary McIlroy, the former Secretary for the College of Commissaires, and Commissaire at the recent World Cyclo Cross Championships in the US, has also been co-opted onto the Board.
They will be joined by Claire Young (Ulster) and Dr Tom Daly (Munster) who will also become a Vice-President.
With four female directors now in situ, Cycling Ireland have also addressed Sport Ireland’s gender balance expectations. We expect our Board to be well positioned to enhance the sport and to deliver the necessary reforms while reflecting the diversity of our membership.
Matt McKerrow, CEO of Cycling Ireland commented:
“We are delighted to have secured the services of these new Directors. The staff of Cycling Ireland is hugely passionate and proud of the positive work being done. The current popularity, investment in infrastructure, and the physical, mental health, environmental and community building benefits of cycling represent a once in a generation opportunity. Participation numbers are growing at all age groups and at all levels of cycling, and the membership and staff of Cycling Ireland deserve a leadership which is unified and shares a crystal-clear vision and plan for the development of the sport.
We are acutely aware of our responsibility to protect and grow the sport on behalf of our members and future generations of cyclists. Members are, and always will be, the most important part of our sport and we now need to redouble our efforts to serve their best interests.
We are grateful to Sport Ireland for its support and guidance throughout this process and to the Chairs of our Provincial Councils for their work.”
Sport Ireland Statement Issued 23.02.2022
In response to Cycling Ireland’s statement regarding board developments, Sport Ireland Chief Executive Dr Una May said: “Sport Ireland is pleased to see progress made by Cycling Ireland in addressing the recent issues. In particular, the commitment to implementing all of the recommendations included in the recent audit commissioned by Sport Ireland, is vitally important as the organisation looks to regain stability.
“There has been good progress made in this regard. Another positive step for Cycling Ireland is the achievement of gender balance on its board, a key tenant of the recently published Sports Action Plan. We look forward to meeting with the new chair of Cycling Ireland as soon as possible. Sport Ireland continues to provide ongoing advice and support to Cycling Ireland, and will work closely with all members of the board and executive in the ongoing development of the sport at all levels.”
Louise Reilly
Louise Reilly is a barrister who specialises in sports law and international arbitration. She represents clients in regulatory matters before domestic and international tribunals. Clients include (from published decisions): the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), World Athletics, World Rugby, Sport Ireland, the GAA, and the FAI.
Louise is an expert in sports governance. She is Chair of the Board of the Biathlon Integrity Unit, which by delegation of the International Biathlon Union, regulates all aspects of integrity in the sport of biathlon, including anti-doping, ethical breaches, betting-related issues, and any kind of
result manipulation.
Louise is regularly appointed by international sports bodies to investigate or adjudicate allegations of wrongdoing. She is a member of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body Appeals Chamber; FA Judicial Panel; International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel; and the Interim Nomination Unit of the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit of the International Boxing Association.
Louise also acts as arbitrator. She is a member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators in Washington DC, nominated by Ireland; is the Irish member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris; and is a member of the Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators of Sport Resolutions, UK.
Louise is Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at University College Dublin. She has also held positions as Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Dispute Resolution at Trinity College Dublin, and Visiting Professor in International Arbitration at Western Law School, Ontario, Canada.
Prior to returning to private practice, Louise was Managing Counsel and Head of Mediation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. She began her career as Assistant Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris. She is a former extern with the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.
Louise is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns, and Stanford Law School. While a SPILS Fellow at Stanford, she conducted empirical research on the role of arbitration in resolving business and human rights disputes.
Susan Ahern
Susan is an Irish qualified practising barrister specialising in arbitration, regulation and sports law. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Susan was recently appointed by the Irish Government to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Panel of Conciliators.
Susan has over 20 years’ experience in sports law practice, sports administration and regulation leadership roles, including representing clients and sitting as an independent decision maker in disciplinary, conduct and commercial cases before national and international tribunals.
Susan has served as Arbitrator in cases involving sport, commercial and insurance matters, conducting both institutional and ad hoc arbitrations. In England and Wales, Susan is an arbitrator and provides arbitration services.
Her diverse experience includes governance and directorships with the Irish Cricket Union, 2023 Cycling World Championships Limited, Volleyball Ireland, the Olympic Federation of Ireland, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the EU Commission EU Good Governance Working Group.
Emma Hunt Duffy
Emma holds a BA in International Marketing with Languages (French and German) and Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations. With a wealth of commercial experience, Emma leads the marketing department in Fyffes and has previously held senior marketing positions at Keogh’s Crisps, EBS and Ryanair.
Emma has expertise in product marketing, brand strategy, people management, new product development, procurement and communications.
Gary McIlroy
Gary McIlroy is an Aviation Safety Inspector within the Safety Regulation Division at the Irish Aviation Authority. He is a holder of a Msc Project Management at UCD Michael Smurfit Business School and MSC Management (Aviation Leadership) at DCU.
Gary has a wealth of experience as a cycling Commissaire spanning 18 years. This includes officiating as a National level Track Commissaire and being an approved UCI International Commissaire for Road and Cyclo-cross. He is currently Secretary for the College of Commissaires and has previously been Secretary of the Road Commission. Gary has also previously been a National Grading Officer. He is the most recently appointed commissaire at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in January 2022.
He is a highly regarded figure within the Irish cycling community, as shown by being named Cycling Ireland Volunteer of the Year in 2018. He is a member of the Usher Irish Road Club.
Dr Tom Daly
Dr. Tom Daly had a career in education and worked for agencies such as the National Centre for Technology in Education and the Special Education Support Service, focusing on areas such as digital technologies and special education.
He led various national and EU projects and also studied, researched, especially the field of institutional culture and change management, and earned post-graduate degrees from UL and UCC. Following retirement he continued working in a consultancy basis and lectured part-time at UL. He also has had a long involvement in community and voluntary work.
Tom is currently Secretary of Killarney Cycling Club and prior to that was involved in Kanturk Cycling Club in various roles for many years. He was previously Secretary of Cycling Munster. He spearheaded the adoption of Masters category National Championships in 2013 and established the Irish Cycling Archive at UCD in 2019. He is author of ‘The Rás: The Story of Ireland’s Unique Bike Race’ and received an Outstanding Services Award from Cycling Ireland in 2019. He has written on coaching and other cycling matters for a number of international and domestic publications and worked on various media projects related to Irish cycling history. He has won a number of Masters National Championships and continues to be an active leisure and competitive cyclist.
