Public relations fees incurred, which totaled €348,334, contributed to losses of €704,269 last year at Irish dancing’s most prestigious governing body, as it continued to count the cost of dealing with the fallout from the global scandal of alleged cheating in Irish dancing.
Accounts recently filed to the Companies Office for An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) show that its finances were sent reeling further by the alleged ‘feis-fixing’ scandal in 2023 as last year’s losses of €704,269 followed losses of €1m in 2022.
A note attached to the accounts states that “If the company were to continue in a similar manner, then within the next 12 months, it would exhaust its cash reserves and become insolvent”.
Statutory audit firm for the CLRG, Leahy O’Riordan of Fairview, Dublin 3, said that the statements and losses outlined in the accounts “indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
In the face of the mounting losses, the CLRG wrote to members shortly after the accounts were signed off in May to advise that it was abandoning its investigation into the alleged cheating in Irish dancing.
The costs of dealing with the alleged ‘feis-fixing’ scandal was the chief factor behind the CLRG’s funds depleting from €2.1m at the end of 2021 to €361,754 at the end of last year.
The CLRG’s cash funds last year decreased by €698,144 from €1.92m to €1.22m.
Along with the non-recurring PR spend of €348,334 in 2023, the CLRG also incurred costs of €154,471 in 2023 concerning an external review.
The note states that the commissioning of the external review was approved by the floor in December 2022 and the hiring of an external PR firm was approved by the floor in October 2022.
The CLRG no longer uses an outside PR agency and has employed a salaried individual to perform the role as a new Communications and Marketing Manager.
The note concerning the continuing losses states that the directors are confident that the CLRG “can continue as a going concern”.
They say that this is based on four financial measures and include hiking entrance fees to the World Championships and to the All-Ireland championships along with increasing registration fees and making all meetings, outside of the AGM, online meetings.
The note states that even with the passing of these financial motions, the company will still experience a cash flow shortage.
It says that the Council of Management has organised “external financing contingent on the passing of these financial motions”.
The note adds that “we are satisfied that continued and enhanced financial stewardship will ensure that the organisation returns to a viable position”.
Asked for an up to date on CLRG financial position, a spokeswoman for the CLRG said on Monday: “After a challenging few months, CLRG can confirm that we received a 90% return rate in re-registration of our teachers and adjudicators for the 2024-2025 dance year.
“Our audit team is currently working on a comprehensive financial report about our current financial standing now that we have our updated registration figures. Until this report is finalised, we are not able to comment on any expected surpluses, etc.”
“However, we can confirm that we have already begun implementing several cost-saving measures for the future success of the organisation including moving all meetings online (except for our AGM – this will be decided later on this year) as well as hiring an in-house Communications & Marketing Manager.”
She said: “These financial reforms, along with several cost-saving changes to our premiere events, will allow us to host our Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne in Dublin in April 2025 as planned.”
Initially, more than 40 people had been facing allegations of cheating after the global scandal in Irish dancing emerged in 2022 and it is understood that a number of Irish dancing teachers and judges accused of so-called feis-fixing were cleared by disciplinary hearings.
The scandal emerged after screenshots of text conversations purporting to show judges and teachers arranging the results of competitions before they were held were leaked online, having been first sent to the CLRG.
The CLRG was earlier forced to lift the suspensions of all of those accused of cheating following one successful High Court case.
– reporting Gordon Deegan
