Sandra Connick, the chairperson of An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), the oldest and largest competitive Irish dance organization in the world, issued a statement to members today, October 30, before the final episode of "The Year that Rocked Irish Dancing" airs tonight on BBC One Northern Ireland.
The entire Irish dance documentary has been available on the BBC iPlayer since its premiere on October 16.
In an email statement to CLRG members on Monday, later shared by a member with IrishCentral, Connick said: “Ahead of the final episode, which predominantly focuses on historical allegations of wrongdoing at CLRG competitions, I wanted to reach out to reassure teachers, dancers, and parents that CLRG is immersed in a process to address these issues and is making real progress, introducing change and reform.
“Like you, I have found it difficult to see our organisation and Irish dancing being portrayed in a negative light, and in particular how the allegations of wrongdoing have impacted dancers participating in our competitions.
“However, we have to remember it is a historical documentary. CLRG is moving forward with heightened levels of transparency, accountability, and governance.
“Over the last 12 months, we have taken a series of steps to create an external, independent disciplinary process administered by experienced professionals to conduct hearings for those individuals facing disciplinary. November will be our third month of hearings, and this work will continue at pace for the future.
"From the outset we have been very transparent about the route and process we have taken, and we will be equally transparent about the outcomes once hearings are complete.
“At the same time as putting the pieces in place to address the allegations of wrongdoing, we have commissioned, delivered and shared with you an external strategic review of our organisation, its structures and constitution. Many of you took part in surveys and focus groups, contributing your valuable opinions which formed a key portion of the report’s findings. A new Co-ordination Group is now reviewing the report’s recommendations in detail. Its goal is to direct those recommendations to the appropriate committees within CLRG, and facilitate the consideration of motions at our December meeting.
“I would also like to address the final statement that BBC Northern Ireland’s documentary concludes with, claiming that the FBI has several thousand pages on file relating to investigations of 'Irish dancing organisations,' but providing no further detail. CLRG is not aware of any active investigations and is contacting the FBI to see if there is further information available.
“Without doubt, the last 12 months have been extremely challenging for our Irish dancing community. However, the disciplinary hearings are taking place and the evolution of CLRG is underway as we work towards creating a renewed organisation to represent the interests of Irish dancing across the globe."
Connick was elected as the new chairperson of CLRG in May of this year in what the organization described as its "largest change in elected representatives ever." She succeeded James McCutcheon, who had survived a motion calling for him to stand down last December.
Connick's statement on Monday comes a few days after a CLRG spokesperson told IrishCentral that “addressing the historical allegations of wrongdoing at Irish dancing competitions discussed in BBC Northern Ireland’s documentary is a key priority for CLRG."
The spokesperson noted CLRG's creation of "an external, independent disciplinary process administered by experienced professionals to conduct hearings for those individuals facing disciplinary."
The final episode of "The Year that Rocked Irish Dancing" - to which I contributed - turns its focus from competition to the two major scandals that rocked the Irish dance world in recent years.
In October 2022, CLRG confirmed that it had launched an investigation after a complaint, seen by IrishCentral and circulated on social media, implicated at least 12 Irish dance teachers and or adjudicators in asking for certain placements and favors before Irish dance competitions even began. Some of the favors requested were sexual in nature.
The cheating allegations came to light roughly three years after a separate scandal - lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct, first reported here on IrishCentral - rocked the organization.
Towards the end of the final episode of "The Year that Rocked Irish Dancing," director and producer Gillian Callan, who had been following top-ranked Irish dancers for the documentary before the cheating scandal broke, said she hoped change would be coming for Irish dancers, but a court document 'made her wonder if it ever would.'
"It proved that CLRG had been alerted to cheating more than a decade ago," Callan said of court documents she was shown which related to the 2012 British National Championships.
"I asked them [CLRG] what they did to investigate these allegations," Callan says in the episode. "They told me they have no oversight of this event. I pointed out that their own rule books show that this is not true."
Callan said she got in touch with the organizers of the British National Championships to see if CLRG had asked them to investigate the allegations. She said she did not receive a reply.
"We can find no evidence to suggest these allegations were ever looked into," Callan says.
While that revelation is shocking in and of itself, Callan concludes the documentary with a bombshell that even the most plugged-in in the Irish dance world would find shocking.
Curious about the allegations of sexual misconduct, Callan submitted a Freedom of Information request to the FBI in the US.
The FBI told Callan it has over 23,000 pages of information relating to her request and estimated that it would take 77 months to release the information.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the BBC fought off a legal attempt to block the Irish dancing documentary from airing.
“There was an unsuccessful attempt to injunct the BBC from publishing some material included in the series," a spokesperson for BBC told the Irish Independent on October 16.
"We opposed these applications because the series is clearly in the public interest – something the judge agreed with."
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