Who is a bigger Cunt and blight on Irish sport
- Delaney
- Carey (DJ)
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voters
A horrible organisation. Disband it.
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Anyone watch this last night?
What’s the gist?
Sounds like a grand swindle
Would anyone be surprised if it was with the FAI involved?
Sarah Keane as the FAI chief? Jesus, she’s a glutton for punishment’
Today at 01:30
After a highly successful stewardship of Swim Ireland and the Olympic Federation of Ireland, the former water polo player has been tipped as Irish football’s saviour
OFI president Sarah Keane speaking during the Olympic Federation of Ireland AGM in Dublin. Photo: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
When Sarah Keane placed the gold medal around Daniel Wiffen’s neck in Paris after his victory in the 800 metres freestyle, it could be viewed as a moment of perfect harmony.
A swimmer establishing himself as a household name presented with the sport’s greatest prize by the woman who, in the words of one observer, is “two from two” in turning around dysfunctional sporting organisations in Ireland.
This was a combination of sporting excellence and good governance brought together. “Because I was looking at the flag, it felt like it was just me and Daniel in the stadium,” Keane told The Currency. “It was surreal.”
Keane has been chief executive of Swim Ireland since 2004 and took over as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (now the Olympic Federation of Ireland) from Pat Hickey in 2017.
This “two from two” track record has seen her linked with FAI chief executive’s job. “I’ve been approached, which is all I’ll say,” she told reporters after the Olympics.
Her Olympic role concludes at the end of the year and Keane’s energy, toughness and success have led many to identify her as the best candidate to lead the football association out of its perpetual darkness.
“Sarah is fearless,” says Peter Conway, the former chair of Swim Ireland, who previously served on its board and had watched the transformation of the body.
John Treacy, the former chief executive of Sport Ireland agrees. “In my view, Sarah has been an outstanding president of the Olympic Federation and has been a fantastic chief executive of Swim Ireland. She’s hard-working, determined and full of integrity.”
It’s obvious why people who have watched Keane’s work regard her as a perfect fit for the FAI. But talk to people in Irish football and there are some reservations — not about Keane herself, but how an appointment from outside football would be viewed.
A new chief executive is expected to be announced by early next month and Keane is believed to be among the final two candidates, alongside acting CEO David Courell.
At the end of a staggeringly successful Olympics for Ireland, Keane may be the appointment Irish football requires. She is highly regarded within government and an enviable record in corporate governance.
“When you get good governance, you get incremental increases in investment. There’s better confidence all round,” said Tánaiste Micheál Martin this week as the government announced its sports funding plans.
Keane can be rightly proud of her achievements but she may not have experienced anything quite like what is often referred to as “the Irish football family”.
For sure, it has dynamics familiar to certain families, prone as it is to in-fighting, feuding and acts of tremendous pettiness.
Some of these traits have manifested themselves in other areas of Irish sport, which has been the perfect breeding ground for Sayre’s law, often summed up as “the lower the stakes, the more vicious the row”.
When the stakes have been high, Keane has never been reluctant to act. She took over as CEO of Swim Ireland in 2004, but even that was not straightforward.
In May 2003, she was informed that she had got the job, something that was subsequently posted on the association’s website. She left her position as an associate partner at Matheson Ormsby Prentice.
A month later, she got a letter from the association in which it seemed they were trying to back down from the appointment. Keane was forced to take out a temporary injunction preventing Swim Ireland from hiring anyone else. The case was settled in January of the following year when her appointment was confirmed.
“Swim Ireland was a basket case when Sarah took it over,” says one seasoned sporting administrator.
The association was still dealing with the consequences of the horrific child abuse cases that had destroyed lives and ruined the reputation of the sport in the country. Keane’s job was painstaking but it always involved, says one source, a recognition of the humanity at the centre of the crisis.
Her appearance in front of a Dáil committee shortly after her appointment as CEO is one that stood out for many. Swim Ireland found itself virtually untouchable from a sponsorship point of view. Its funding had been suspended and it was facing multiple legal cases.
Keane didn’t flinch from the challenges and presented the realities to the committee. “She struck me as someone not to be trifled with,” says one who was present that day.
As a performance, it could be contrasted with the many hapless FAI appearances over the years, but in every area of her life Keane has shown high standards.
She was a national swimmer and international water polo player. She is recalled by one former team-mate as someone made for a game that involves huge camaraderie but is fiercely competitive and at times unrelentingly physical. She never shirked a challenge.
As a student, Keane spent one year in Cleveland, Ohio, on a swimming scholarship, a time that made a huge impression. She was struck by the confidence of Americans and when she returned she joined a local Toastmasters club, with a view to becoming a more confident public speaker.
Paul Flynn, a six-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin, has been impressed with Keane. During his time as chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association, he began a process of contacting other sports who may have felt the his organisation was in a privileged position when it came to funding.
“She was ultra-impressive and didn’t give an inch,” he says. “I came with my position about Gaelic Games being the most popular sports in the country and she pushed back. It was a tour de force.” Flynn subsequently invited her to speak at leadership symposiums.
Her own leadership that was critical to the rejuvenation of Swim Ireland was needed with the Olympic Council of Ireland after Rio in 2016. A politician describes her as “almost the polar opposite” of her predecessor Pat Hickey — “except I would say she’s as politically astute”.
When I interviewed her in 2021, she said of her transformation of the OFI: “You may own your brand, but you don’t own your reputation; your reputation is something else that other people effectively define for you in many ways.”
For those who have observed the FAI over its many iterations, the one thing that has remained constant is its reputation.
Even now, when observers praise the work it has done in reforming since the John Delaney years, there are still reservations or a calamitous appearance in front of an Oireachtas committee to undermine it.
Twenty years as chief executive of Swim Ireland is a long time, both for any sporting body and for the individual. Keane is said to be conscious of the landmark. The association has grown from a small team of “one-and-a-half people” as it was described, to a more substantial staff of more than 50. Keane has encouraged the progress of key staff including Mary McMorrow, Celia Coffey and Jon Rudd, Swim Ireland’s performance director.
“She’s very transparent in how she communicates, she’s analytical in every decision and when the time is right, she makes decisions,” says Peter Conway.
The swimming community hasn’t always been united. The cost of three pop-up pools, two of which had been placed in storage, was criticised by Brian Nolan of Clontarf Swimming Club at the association’s annual meeting this year as “an absolute waste of money”.
Nolan also runs the major events division of Leinster Open Sea, a body which has clashed with Swim Ireland over two high-profile open water events, the Harbour Race and the Liffey Swim.
“Sarah is probably at the stage now where she has outgrown Swim Ireland,” says one experienced figure in Irish sport. “If you’re not asking people to do the hard things then you’re not doing your job.”
There would be plenty of hard moments with the FAI. The association, in many people’s view, would be better off with an outsider.
Keane was said to be close to being appointed before Jonathan Hill got the job. He was a CEO with a commercial background, but corporate governance is where the FAI needs change. Some wonder if an opportunity was missed in not appointing Keane as deputy CEO back then.
It is understood that those who were approached for the job were asked how they would define their ability to negotiate with government. The FAI published its facility investment strategy last year, looking for €863m over the next 15 years, asking for more than €500m of it from government.
Yet there are others who remain sceptical about how much the FAI can be reformed. Irish football can seem like an insular world that is resistant to change, a resistance all the more notable for essentially an unbroken track record of failure.
One football administrator wondered how “the chieftains” of Irish football would react to Keane. “It’s a world of funny handshakes,” he said. Yet they have never been a can-do group, even with football people in charge. “They’d do your head in,” is how one sports administrator described them.
Whatever scepticism some within football might have, Keane too would need to feel there is a possibility for transformation. She believes strongly in the ability of sport to transform lives — and with two children who play football, she understands the power of the game.
“The most important piece is bringing people with her and she’s done that in both organisations,” Treacy says.
In both roles, she has insisted on placing the athlete first. Their time is too precious to be wasted by the squabbling of administration.
As she became part of the solution to the Olympic Council of Ireland’s crisis after Rio, Keane told RTÉ in 2017 what she felt was important in sport. “I always think back to being on holidays in West Clare during the 1984 Games and staying up late every night with my cousins, all of us watching the Games together. Sport brings people together and Olympic sport is no exception to that,” she said.
The Paris Olympics was the most glorious demonstration of that vision. Rio was barely a memory, a reminder for a sports administrator of how quickly things can change.
Keane became president of the Olympic Federation after what one report referred to as a “quiet revolution”. Any change in the FAI is likely to be noisier, but many agree on what is required. “It needs to become a modern organisation,” says one. “And that takes revolution.”
Others who are endless in their admiration for Keane’s professional abilities wish her well but know the challenge would be enormous. “Sarah as CEO of the FAI?” says one. “Jesus, she’s a glutton for punishment.”
The Republic of Ireland have fallen once more in the FIFA rankings, dropping one place to 63rd following the October international window.
A first victory for Heimir Hallgrimsson, over Finland, was followed by the customary 2-0 defeat to Greece, leaving Ireland in third spot in Nations League Group B2.
However the curate’s egg set of results has not been enough to stop Burkina Faso leaping above Ireland into 62nd spot off the back of home and away African Cup of Nations qualifier wins over Burundi.
It is Ireland’s lowest ranking since March 2015 when Martin O’Neill’s side stood in 66th position.
Hallgrimsson’s former charges, Jamaica, are a place above Burkina Faso in 61st. Northern Ireland have risen two spots to 71st, one place behind Iceland, another of Halgrimsson’s old teams.
There is no change at the top, with Argentina in first spot, ahead of France, Spain, England and Brazil.
Ireland welcome Finland to Dublin on 14 November before a trip to Wembley for their final Nations League group match three days later.
The World Cup draw takes place on Friday, 13 December.