Irish Sailing Association does need a shake-up but it won’t solve everything

With the organisation of Irish sailing in the spotlight following publication of the Strategic Review Group report, planning is underway for a major shake-up of the sport’s governing body.

Under the review, all roads led to the Irish Sailing Association, with directors, managers and staff all coming under the microscope.

But could reform be really simply a matter of taking aim at one organisation, especially given the fragmented nature of sailing and boating acknowledged in the detailed review?

Granted the association is a far cry from the glory days of the amateur Irish Yachting Association, led by voluntary committees, hard-working and effective with their valuable time in serving what was then an axis of major yacht clubs along a Cork-Dublin axis.

Driven by Ursula Maguire, the permanent secretary for 30 years with just one assistant, the drive to grow the organisation began almost 25 years ago.

Staff numbers grew steadily to around a dozen while recorded membership peaked around 24,000 nationwide before falling during the recession to around 19,000.

The upwards of 45 class associations and 50 or so clubs, plus dozens of commercial sail-training centres, are all feeling the pinch of recession reflected in a fall-off in demand and action is needed.

The IYA did not have to contend with the level of government involvement and representation today. From child protection to marine tourism, safety standards, local authority regulation, taxation and much more, no voluntary-only body could keep pace.

Even government funding schemes, available for areas such as capital schemes and special events, are inevitably spread so thinly they lead to squabbles over resources.

There are simply too many diverse demands, all expecting action, transformation and results.

Yet one, simple demand across all sections is repeated and clear: more participants are needed, and urgently.

If reform of the ISA resulted only in a doubling of participants around the country in, say, five years,then a real service will have been delivered.