Mr James Kennedy appointed Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland’s Finance Committe

Mr James Kennedy has been  appointed as Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland’s Finance Committee following a Board meeting of Horse Sport Ireland this week.

James worked for the Imperial Group in the UK for 10 years before returning to Ireland to head up multinational Bosch and Lomb’s operation in Europe from its Waterford Headquarters. He built the company up to a level where it employed over 2000 people.  Since then he has worked in the private sector setting up a number of companies and he is a mentor with Enterprise Ireland.

He has hunted all his life and has been Chairman of the Waterford Hunt. James is a keen polo player and he is the current Chairman of the Federation of Irish Polo Clubs and a Director of Schools and University Polo (SUPA).

James has been a member of the HSI Finance committee since March 2013. Horse Sport Ireland’s Chairman Professor Pat Wall had chaired the Finance Committee sub-committee himself but has now handed over to James Kennedy. Professor Wall , who will remain as a member of the committee, stated

“The Finance Committee plays a very important role within Horse Sport Ireland. As a recipient of Government funding we have to be very transparent in how we allocate our funds and ensure that we are getting the best value for money. Chairman of the Finance Committee is an important role and we are lucky to have someone of James’s expertise willing to give his valuable time for the benefit of the industry in what is a voluntary position”

“With the Sport Horse strategy reaching a conclusion we hope that there will be extra funding for the sector and James ‘s expertise will be helpful in making sure we make best use of our existing funding and additional funding that comes our way” he said.

ENDS