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The Journal
19 hours ago
- Sport
- The Journal
Leinster swim group takes legal action against Swim Ireland over Liffey swim hosting row
A ROW BETWEEN two swim groups over identical events planned for the second consecutive year has led a Leinster-based swim group to initiate legal proceedings against Swim Ireland. Leinster Open Sea (LOS) filed legal proceedings against Swim Ireland, the national governing body for Irish swimming, on Monday. A statement from Leinster Open Sea's board of directors confirmed that it had initiated the proceedings, which include an application for an injunction to prevent Swim Ireland from organising 'duplicate' Liffey Swim and Dún Laoghaire Harbour races. The statement described the two events as 'historic' and 'long established as part of the Leinster Open Sea calendar'. There was confusion last year as both LOS and Swim Ireland ran competing Liffey Swims after a row broke out over who should host the landmark swim. Leinster Open Swim had been the organiser of the event for a number of years, but had done so recognised by Swim Ireland. A rift between the two, which included Swim Ireland stating that it had 'governance concerns' over the operations of Leinster Open Swim, resulted in the separate bodies ploughing ahead and holding their separate swims at the same location. This year, Leinster Open Sea's Dún Laoghaire Harbour swim is scheduled to take place on 15 September, and its Liffey swim is scheduled to take place on 21 September. Swim Ireland, however, has scheduled for its Dún Laoghaire Harbour swim to take place on 3 August, and its Liffey swim on 13 September. Advertisement The swim in 2018. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Leinster Open Sea CLG has this year set out that it wishes to retain the right to organise and run the annual events. 'In 2024, the running of two competing Liffey Swims caused considerable confusion among swimmers, volunteers, and the public — resulting in reputational damage and unnecessary division within the open water community,' a statement said. 'We are determined to avoid the same situation in 2025.' It further said that it has made repeated efforts to resolve the matter and has offered to undergo mediation with Swim Ireland. It alleged that Swim Ireland publicly stated that it is willing to take part in mediation but privately laid down 'a series of preconditions before it would take part in mediation which are totally unacceptable'. It added that it regretted having to initiate such proceedings but that the move was taken 'as a last resort'. In a statement to The Journal , Swim Ireland said that it has refrained from taking legal action itself to avoid spending 'valuable resource on legal fees which could otherwise be spent on our members and ground the Swim Ireland open water schedule'. 'As Swim Ireland has not initiated this recent action, it continues to consider the contents of the legal proceedings issued and will attend court on Friday, as required,' the organisation said. It added that it was assured of its position in relation to the two contested swims. Leinster Open Sea said that it hoped the Leinster swimming community would consider to support it as it proceeds with legal action, and said that it fully intends for its race calendar to proceed as planned. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Dispute over who has right to run Liffey Swim and Dún Laoghaire Swim
A dispute over who has the right to run the Dublin Liffey Swim and the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Swim has reached the High Court. Leinster Open Sea (LOS) CLG, a volunteer sponsorship-funded body which organises around 30 sea races every year in partnership with local clubs, is seeking injunctions against the Irish Amateur Swimming Association CLG, trading as the State-funded national governing body for swimming Swim Ireland. Advertisement LOS, which has around 1,000 registered swimmers, wants the court to restrain the defendant from holding this year's August 3rd Dún Laoghaire event and the September 13th Liffey event. The court heard that last year, as a result of the dispute, two separate Liffey swims were held and Dublin City Council does not want the same thing happening this year. On Tuesday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan granted LOS permission to serve proceedings on the defendant following a one side only represented application. The judge said he wanted to hear from Swim Ireland on Friday before he decides whether to grant the injunctions sought. In an affidavit, Brian Nolan, a member of the LOS board of directors, said Swim Ireland was divided into four regions with the Leinster Region having as one of its sub-committees the LOS. Advertisement In 2014, the Leinster Region egm agreed to fully subsume into Swim Ireland but with a provision that the decision did not affect LOS, Mr Nolan said. LOS continued to run and manage the Liffey and Dun Laoghaire swims in which participants are required to complete a number of qualifying races in the LOS calendar before being eligible for the two events, he said. "Liffey Swim" was also registered as a trade mark in 2015 by an LOS member. A memorandum of understanding was agreed between LOS and Swim Ireland in 2017 to develop initiatives within open water swimming and with €15,000 per year in support from Swim Ireland, he said. However, Mr Nolan said, in 2020 the defendant breached that agreement and there followed various unsuccessful attempts to mediate the dispute between them. Advertisement It culminated in Swim Ireland organising the Dun Laoghaire swim in 2024 with the number of participants down by around 50 per cent on the LOS-organised event in 2023, he said. The dispute led to two Liffey Swims being held in 2024 with the September 7th Swim Ireland-organised event attracting 200 entries and the LOS-organised event attracting double that number, Mr Nolan said. In the absence of being allowed to run these two major events, which also provide funding for its other races, LOS will 'in simple terms go out of business', he said. Ireland Almost 200 Marilyn Monroe lookalikes take the plun... Read More Seeking permission from the court to bring proceedings, Michael O'Doherty BL, for LOS, said while publicly claiming they are open to mediation Swim Ireland has set down pre-conditions which ask his client to abandon their claims and give up any rights over the events. "I say that is bad faith on their (defendant's) part", he said. Advertisement A more recent development was that Dublin City Council, which grants permission for the Liffey Swim, had invited the parties to mediation as the local authority wanted to avoid the two swims situation of last year, he said. However, Swim Ireland again set down a pre-condition that his client abandon any proprietary rights to the event, he said. Mr Justice Cregan said it was appropriate to only grant short service of the proceedings given there was a long history to this dispute and he would be very reluctant to grant ex parte injunctions in the absence of the defendant.
