Irish dancing’s largest governing body is to stop judges at dance competitions bringing mobile phones to adjudicating tables in the wake of a competition fixing scandal.
The rule change is one of several measures being introduced by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) to ensure fair competition at the All Ireland Championships this weekend.
The Irish dancing world has been rocked by allegations of Irish dancing teachers and adjudicators sharing text messages before dance competitions that appeared to show them trying to secure higher scores for their students competing in feiseanna.
The text messages showed teachers sharing details of the competition age group and competition numbers for their students and asking adjudicators to look favourably on them.
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The controversy has led to the suspension of 44 individuals from judging competitions and disciplinary hearings being brought against them following an investigation by retired Court of Appeal judge, Mr Justice Micheal Peart, carried out at the request of the commission last year.
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In response to the controversy, CLRG has outlined a series of new rules for adjudicators judging competitions that the commission has said would be “strictly enforced” during the All Ireland Championships, which run from Sunday for a week at the Gleneagle INEC Arena in Killarney, Co Kerry.
Under the new rules, adjudicators will not be allowed to bring any notes or paperwork with them to the judging table and all official adjudication and notation documents will be delivered to adjudicators in a sealed envelope once they are seated, CLRG said in a statement issued through a public relations firm.
Judges will also be asked to socialise and eat meals as a group separate from other members, teachers and dancers.
“Adjudicators will not be permitted to carry phones, bags, purses or smart watches to the adjudication table,” the commission said.
“All electronics - phones, tablets, laptops, etc - must be left in their hotel room. Judges are not permitted to return to their hotel room until judging for the day and sign-offs are complete.”
Competitor number cards will no longer be distributed in advance, nor will competition numbers be published in the programme book for the championship, the commission said.
A short time before a competition starts, updated competitor lists including dancer numbers will be released on the guidebook app for the championships.
The commission said that at the time of the release, adjudicators will be in the adjudicator panel room without electronics with no access to the competitor lists. Competitor number cards will be delivered at the side of the stage with a printed list of competitors.
Adjudicators will be selected for panels each evening for the next day’s competition.
CLRG said an “officer of the event” from the commission’s Oireachtas or ethics committee will be assigned to judges and will be responsible for the collection of adjudication sheets and notes for each judging panel. All paperwork will be placed in a sealed envelope for delivery to tabulate.
The CLRG’s All-Ireland Championships is one of the showcase events in the Irish dancing calendar. More than 2,000 dancers from across the world, competing in age categories, from under 10 through to senior level, will be performing during the week-long event.
