The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has used his powers under legislation to remove the current members of the board of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) on a no-fault basis.

Five members of the organisation’s board have resigned since April 2022 – including the chair.

This meant that the IFI was no longer able to carry out its functions effectively, according to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication.

The department said that Minister Eamon Ryan intended to appoint new members of the IFI board, in accordance with the provisions of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010, as soon as possible.

Governance review

To ensure that IFI can perform its functions effectively as quickly as possible, the minister has also used his powers under the 2010 act to appoint Tom Barry and Seamus Neely to perform its functions, pending the appointment of a new, full board through the statutory appointments process.

In addition, the minister has told the two appointees to prioritise “the full and prompt consideration” of several protected disclosures that are understood to have been received by IFI in recent months.

“These could not be progressed by the board of IFI as a result of the recent resignations,” the department said.

Barry and Neely have also been asked to oversee the preparation of a governance review of IFI, to be delivered within a period of three to six months.