An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), the oldest and largest competitive Irish dance organization in the world, said today, February 9, that the first ten external disciplinary hearings concerning the historical allegations of wrongdoing at Irish dancing competitions will have been heard and concluded by the middle of March.
Books of evidence are being prepared and disciplinary hearings are being scheduled for the remaining cases with the goal of concluding all cases by the summer, CLRG said.
Three disciplinary cases took place last year, with a further four heard in January. An additional three cases are scheduled to be heard by mid-March.
Once all of the hearings are concluded, the outcomes and any penalties handed down will be communicated in line with CLRG's disciplinary procedures, CLRG said.
A CLRG spokesperson said on Friday: “We have invested considerable time to create an external, independent disciplinary process to conduct hearings for those individuals facing allegations of wrongdoing and potential disciplinary action.
"The hearings are moving forward and we are committed to having the remaining cases heard and concluded by the summer.”
CLRG's statement was made two days before Oireachtas Rince na hÉireann 2024 (All Ireland Championships), the oldest 'major' Irish dancing competition in the world, begins on Sunday in Killarney, Co Kerry. CLRG said more than 2,000 dancers will be in attendance.
Enhanced adjudication procedures introduced at last year’s event will be in place, including sequestration of adjudicators and timed release of competitor numbers, CLRG noted on Friday.
The spokesperson added: “Ensuring the highest standards of adjudication at CLRG competitions, including this week’s All-Ireland Championships, is of the utmost importance.
"We are looking forward to seeing the very best Irish dancers in world showcase their talent and skill in Killarney, and I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of our competitors throughout the week the very best of luck.”
Friday's update comes nearly a year and a half after CLRG confirmed in October 2022 that it had launched an investigation after a complaint, seen by IrishCentral and circulated on social media, implicated at least 12 Irish dance teachers and or adjudicators in asking for certain placements and favors before Irish dance competitions even began. Some of the favors requested were sexual in nature.
An independent investigation recommended in December 2022 that 44 cases be moved to "full disciplinary hearings." The names of the people involved in the disciplinary hearings have not been made public by CLRG.
In February 2023, an Irish High Court ruled that while CLRG's disciplinary process should proceed, one teacher and adjudicator, Amanda Hennigan, should have her suspension halted.
The following month, CLRG announced that following a competitive tendering process, it had appointed global management firm Sia Partners to conduct a complete review of its organizational processes and structures.
Sia Partners embarked on a strategic audit of CLRG’s constitution, entire organizational structure, adjudication and competition rules and regulations, disciplinary procedures, and practices, in line with Motions 2 and 3 agreed at CLRG’s December Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
In May 2023, CLRG announced it underwent its "largest change in elected representatives ever" at its Annual General Members meeting. Sandra Connick became the Chairperson and Mary Sweeney and Carmel Doyle became Vice-Chairpersons.
A day later, CLRG confirmed it had begun the process of serving books of evidence to many individuals facing a disciplinary hearing.
The cases will be heard by an independent External Disciplinary Panel "in the coming weeks," the spokesperson said in May.
CLRG also said that month that it had developed an "enhanced set of disciplinary procedures and practices" that allow the External Disciplinary Panel to hear CLRG disciplinary cases, address the differing degrees of misconduct, account for the international spread of cases to be heard, and permit legal representation.
In July, CLRG said the report by Sia Partners was complete and would be considered at the July 29 EGM and that a detailed summary of the report would be distributed to all CLRG Registrants after the EGM.
According to the Irish Times, the Sia Partners report found an “overall lack of trust” within CLRG and that the organization’s complaint process was “not trusted.”
CLRG lacked a “clear vision,” the report said, and needed to become more “dancer centric.”
Concerns were raised about the “variation” in how rules were applied between regions and schools, especially in competitions.
The report said “unwanted behaviors” by some were “negatively impacting” the culture of the governing organization.
The report recommended hiring a professional chief executive officer or a chief operations officer to run the organization.
There should be a stronger code of conduct, as well as a focus on how to change “elements of the culture that no longer serve the organisation," the report said, according to the Irish Times.
The report also recommended the number of elected members be cut by at least 40 percent.
CLRG said last August that the first disciplinary hearings had commenced.
In October, "The Year that Rocked Irish Dancing" - to which IrishCentral contributed - aired on BBC One Northern Ireland. Aside from high-level Irish dance competition, the documentary addressed both the cheating scandal that emerged in 2022, as well as the separate allegations of sexual abuse, which were first reported here on IrishCentral in December 2019.
After the documentary debuted, it emerged that the BBC fought off a legal attempt to block the Irish dancing documentary from airing.
Ahead of the documentary's final episode, Connick emphasized the "historical" nature of the allegations in a statement to CLRG membership.
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