SPORTS DIGEST: For the second time in a year the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) is seeking a chief executive following an ISA announcement last night that Cormac Bradley is to stand down next month, writes David O'Brien.
In a statement issued to its board members the association president Robert Dix said the association was now looking for a replacement CEO.
Bradley (47), a chartered engineer, joined the ISA last February taking over the reins from Paddy Boyd who held the position for 16 years and in that time tripled the size of the organisation.
The brief statement said: "Mr Robert Dix, president of the association, acknowledged the contribution Mr Bradley had made to the association and wished him well in his future endeavours."
Last night Bradley expressed his disappointment at the announcement but would make no other comment.
Robert Dix could not be contacted.
Cameron Hanley drew first blood at the Arctic Equestrian Games in Vestfold, Norway, yesterday, scoring in the Kingsland Gentleman's Cup after claiming a second in the opening speed class, writes Grania Willis.
The 32-year-old Mayo man called on the horsepower of the 11-year-old mare Night Dancer for both classes, but was denied the double by a mere four-hundredths of second.
With second place in the opener already under his belt, Hanley tuned up Night Dancer for the afternoon's two-phase and lifted the Kingsland Cup by just under a quarter of a second from the home side's Trond Werner Johnsen.
While the Irish riders continue to win on the continental circuit, there is still no resolution to the ongoing stand-off between the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) and the Equestrian Federation of Ireland (EFI).
The federation once again took over the selection process from the SJAI at a meeting in Dublin on February 6th and it is expected John Ledingham, James Kernan and former chairman of the SJAI selection panel Taylor Vard will be ratified as the new selectors at a meeting of the Federation's executive on Monday week.
Five applications have been received for the still vacant post of chef d'equipe. Robert Splaine, who was in contractual discussions for the post until mid-November last year, has applied again, along with Jack Doyle, Tom Slattery, Tommy Brennan and former British team member Malcolm Pyrah, despite the fact the job specification advertised on the federation website, stated that "a condition of employment would be that the successful applicant is domiciled in Ireland".
A panel made up of federation president Charles Powell and secretary general Dan Butler, SJAI chairman Patricia Furlong and chairman of international affairs Paraic Geraghty and an independent chairman nominated by the Irish Sports Council will be interviewing the candidates for the post.
