Cork native Tony Hurley will again be the Chairman of ShowjumpingIreland for his second year in succession, fifth year in total, as he was unanimously re-elected for the position at last night's first Executive meeting for 2014.
Hurley was Chairman in 2013 and he had previously sat in the Chair during the turn of the Millennium and held the position for three years.
The majority of the Chairpersons will remain as per 2013 with Ray Buchanan assuming the role of Vice-Chairman once again while Liam Murphy is again the Chairman of the Management and Finance Committee. Former Irish Showjumping Chef D'Equipe, Eamon Rice is the new Chairman of the National Competitions Committee while Michael Hennessy is also new to the Chair of the Judges Committee. Niall Duffy and Paul MacKenzie are taking on the Chairman's roles for the Veterinary and Training Committees respectively.
Michael Blake, who has played an influential role in setting up a Young Rider Placement programme with Senior Irish Riders in Florida remains the Chairman of the Young Rider Committee. Katy Saunders also in the Chair for the Pony Committee, likewise for Ray Halpin (Health and Safety), Paddy Mullen (Amateurs), Ray Buchanan (Course Designers).
Speaking on his re-election as Chairman, Tony Hurley said; ''I'm delighted to resume as Chairman once more and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead. There is no doubt we have a challenging year ahead once more, however, we accomplished a lot of what we set out to do in 2013 with regard to Insurance and the new Health and Safety programmes have been a huge success.
''We were very pleased to be able to reduce the cost of Animal Registrations for 2014 along with maintaining several of the Members benefits that have been in situ for the past number of years. Bringing the Bulletin online has been a huge success so far and the numbers that are subscribing for the publication are very encouraging.''