Racing: Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ronan Keane, will become the first chairman of Irish racing's Independent Appeals Body, which comes into effect tomorrow.
Keane, who served as a judge for 25 years before his retirement last year, will be assisted by former Attorney General, Eoghan Fitzsimons SC as deputy chairman. Fitzsimons has been a Senior Counsel for past 25 years.
Former senior steward of the Turf Club, Raymond J Rooney, and former senior steward of the INHS Committee, Roy Craigie, were appointed vice-chairmen of the non-independent section of the Appeals Body.
Limerick solicitor, Dr Gordon Holmes, has been appointed chairman of the Referrals Committee. Dr. Holmes is the current chairman of the Appeals and Referrals Committee which ceases to operate at the end of business today. He is also the current chairman of the Garda Complaints Board, the Parole Board and the Betting Appeals Board.
Commenting on the appointments, Turf Club senior steward, Pierce Molony, said: "The appointments of such high profile legal experts to the independent Appeals Body further enhances the independence and transparency of the appeal system and will give confidence to all appellants that their cases will be dealt with in a fair and impartial manner."
"In today’s world the independence of the Regulatory Body was paramount to ensure that there was complete confidence in the integrity of racing and the stewards both on the racecourse and through the new appeals system would make every effort possible to ensure this continued."
The governing bodies of racing in Ireland agreed to set up the new Appeals Body at a meeting on January 10th.
The Appeals Body will sit in two divisions each composed of three members. The first division will be presided over by the chairman or deputy chairman and the second division will be presided over by one of the vice-chairmen. Two ordinary members will always sit on each division when hearing an appeal.
A person making an appeal to the Appeals Body will be entitled to express a view as to which division should hear the appeal. The chairman or deputy chairman will then have complete discretion to decide which division should hear an appeal but, in exercising such discretion, they will take into account the consequences for the appellant regarding any penalty or penalties that might be imposed on the hearing of the appeal.