Rowing Ireland had its Sport Ireland funding withheld on the eve of the Paris Olympics after failing to adequately address serious concerns around athlete safeguarding and welfare.
The revelation emerged during a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, convened following testimonies from rowers about their experiences within the high-performance environment between 2021 and 2024.
However, committee chair Alan Kelly described Sport Ireland’s handling of the situation as “deeply concerning”, arguing that the State body should have intervened earlier to resolve escalating conflict between athletes and their governing organisation.
Former international rower Monika Dukarska, who has spoken publicly about her experiences, watched from the gallery as Mr Kelly said correspondence received by the committee from Rowing Ireland ahead of the meeting was “extraordinary” and “unprecedented”.
Rowing Ireland chief executive Michelle Carpenter did not attend the session. Committee vice-chair Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn told members that Ms Carpenter had contacted her seeking “confidence and support” on the eve of the hearing, which Ms Ní Chuilinn described as inappropriate.
Rowing Ireland board chair Barry McWilliams said Ms Carpenter was unwell and unable to attend. With high-performance lead coach Dominic Casey also unavailable, none of the organisation’s representatives present had held senior operational roles during the period under scrutiny.
Sport Ireland chief executive, Dr Una May, told the committee the organisation “acknowledge and regret the experience shared by some athletes”, conceding that “frankly, there were issues” within Rowing Ireland’s high-performance programme.
Ms Dukarska and two-time world champion and Olympian Sanita Puspure had earlier met the committee in private, outlining the culture they said developed under former performance director Antonio Maurogiovanni, whose contract was not renewed following the Paris Games in 2024.
Members had also been briefed by psychologist Dr Paul Gaffney, who had treated 12 current and former athletes from the setup. Dr May confirmed Dr Gaffney had raised concerns with Sport Ireland as far back as 2021, though she said no formal athlete complaint reached the body until 2023.
Dr May outlined a series of interventions by Sport Ireland over that period, including mentoring, mediation and additional resource supports, culminating in the suspension of funding.
Paul McDermott, Sport Ireland’s director of high performance, confirmed funding was halted in July, 2024. He stressed that withdrawal of funding was not a tool the organisation “wishes to weaponise”, describing the Rowing Ireland situation as “unusual and unique”. He said Sport Ireland did not observe similar systemic issues across other sports.
Rowing Ireland representatives maintained that the programme’s culture had changed significantly since 2024. President Jane Williams said neither clubs nor athletes recognised the toxic environment described by critics.
“The culture is strong at the moment,” said head of high performance Niall O’Carroll. “Athletes have a voice now and there has been radical change around selection processes and transparency.”
Ms Ní Chuilinn cautioned, however, that “everything is not perfect”. Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney accused Rowing Ireland of displaying a “lack of humility” and failing to meaningfully address the past after Mr McWilliams declined to apologise to affected athletes.
Accepting responsibility, she said, was “vital for healing and progress”.
Ms Ní Chuilinn also criticised the broader system for failing to provide “safe spaces” through which athletes could raise concerns, particularly in high-performance environments where power imbalances can deter whistleblowing.
Sport Ireland culture adviser John Donnelly supported the creation of an independent reporting structure, allowing athlete complaints to be investigated externally before findings were referred back to governing bodies.
Mary O’Connor, chief executive of the Federation of Irish Sport, said additional athlete support managers were needed across Ireland’s 81 national governing bodies – there is currently just one, appointed in 2024 – alongside enhanced investigative powers to ensure accountability.
Dr May, meanwhile, told the committee she had “qualified confidence” in Ms Carpenter’s leadership. She said Sport Ireland had not sought expanded statutory powers, though it remained open to considering changes to its remit to include investigations.
Wrapping up the hearing, Mr Kelly described the session as “quite extraordinary – even before it began” and warned Rowing Ireland representatives against selecting independent figures themselves for any future review process.
He also expressed serious concerns about both the organisation’s governance and Sport Ireland’s oversight. “I’m not buying the idea that Sport Ireland couldn’t intervene before 2024,” Mr Kelly said. “Enough red flags were raised and that’s deeply concerning.”
The Department of Sport later issued a statement emphasising the “shared responsibility” of safeguarding athletes across all sports.
Ministers Patrick O’Donovan and Charlie McConalogue said the episode underlined the need to learn lessons from Rowing Ireland’s handling of the situation and called for an independent review of the processes, procedures and timelines involved. They said such a review could strengthen Ireland’s overall framework for sports governance and athlete protection.