A legal dispute over the appointment of a Dublin solicitor, Ms Sarah Keane, as chief executive of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association Ltd, trading as Swim Ireland, was settled yesterday at the High Court.
After the hearing, Ms Keane's solicitor, Mr Donal Taaffe, said Ms Keane's appointment as chief executive had been confirmed. Ms Keane, a former Irish national swimming champion and a member of the Irish water polo team, left her position as an associate partner with Dublin solicitors' firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice after receiving a written offer from the association last May.
At an earlier court hearing, counsel for Ms Keane said his client got a letter from the association on June 17th, 2003, in which it appeared the association was attempting to resile from her appointment.
Ms Keane had replied that she applied for the position in response to a public advertisement and was selected following a very rigorous and thorough process. The board ratified her appointment.
A letter of July 15th from Ms Lynda Fallon, secretary to Swim Ireland, said it was not accepted or conceded that Ms Keane "was lawfully appointed". Ms Fallon said her information suggested that an individual board member or others may have purported to act on behalf of the board "without any lawful authority". On July 23rd last, Ms Keane got a High Court order restraining the association from appointing anyone else to the post.