After three and a half years as chair of Dressage Ireland, Marguerite Kavanagh announced her retirement at the DI General Assembly at the start of November 2023.
Kavanagh has been a board member at Dressage Ireland for six years and became chair in February 2020. In her chairperson's report and closing address, Kavanagh disclosed the challenges and hurdles she faced during her tenure.
"As with all organisations rotation of Directors is most important for the dynamic life blood of any progressive organisation. So tonight marks the end of my term on the board," she said.
Kavanagh worked hard to facilitate good financial oversight.
"The finances were the first issue we needed to get to grips with as the finances were at an all time low due to the substantial figure of €50,000 being contributed by the previous board to HSI High Performance for a team to go to the Olympics," she said. The fact that Ireland ended up not sending a team to Tokyo led to a major crisis within Horse Sport Ireland and several costly lawsuits.
"Covid as we all know was life changing, and administratively it was a nightmare as guidelines changed weekly and the worry of running the sport in a compliant manner was at times a major struggle," said Marguerite. "But with every cloud there is a silver lining, which came in the form of the covid relief grants for sporting organisations. Grant applications are inordinately detailed and difficult especially in relation to financial figures, predictions and estimated losses from lack of activity (...) As Chairperson I have endeavoured to ensure we as a board are discretionary about spending and continue to build bridges with sponsors and members within our organisation with specialised skill sets."
Kavanagh further worked on inclusion and accessibility in the sport.
"In the promotion of Dressage, inclusiveness and making the sport accessible to all is vital to its growth. It is the one sport whereby young, mature, able and Para and neuro diverse athletes can compete and participate in and it’s also gender neutral. In relation to neuro diversity Dyspraxia, Asperger’s, and dyslexia are only some conditions that come to mind. To assist such athletes I led the board to a better understanding of dyslexia and any conditions that impair 4 memory and in doing so we made the decision to change our rules to allow callers at the National championships and Winter finals. After all Dressage is primarily about harmony between a horse and rider it should not be about memorising a test, which was actually blocking many athletes from participating. I am proud to have made a difference to the confidence and ultimate happiness of such athletes. Life is short we need to make it easy and enjoyable."
She further disclosed that, "i’s been a busy few years and it has been a role that required me to hit the ground running and I guess I have been ever since! In this time I learned a lot about myself, my strengths and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. I can say whole heartedly that I always acted in the best interests of Dressage Ireland and was the best chair I could possibly beI wasn’t always liked for exposing governance issues at higher levels, but time has now shown that there was substance and fact behind mine and the boards concerns. However, that said it’s now important to move forward as there is no future looking back!"
Read her full closing words here.
Related Links
Marguerite Kavanagh: Dyslexia and Dressage
Marguerite Kavanagh: Not Sending Irish Team to Tokyo is a National Embarrassment
Kavanagh Appointed Chair of Dressage Ireland, Aims to Draw More Riders to Dressage