Ciara Peelo, former Irish Olympian, has recently been appointed as Irish Sailing’s Athlete Liaison Officer. Peelo represented Ireland at the 2008 summer Olympics in the women's laser radial class, where she finished 20th. She was the Irish flagbearer during the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing.
The Purpose of the role is to support the Olympic Steering Group in gathering feedback from the Irish Sailing Team members on the implementation of the recommendations of the Uppercut Tokyo Review.
The Athlete Liaison Officer (ALO) will also act as an ongoing independent mentor where members of the team will have an additional outlet to discuss their concerns around the HP programme in a less formal and risk free environment – in effect an additional outlet for the “Athletes voice” to be heard. This is addition to and separate from the formal complaint/grievance procedures which are already.
Her function will be to support and educate the athletes whilst engaging in the HP programme, and to deciding whether there is an issue that needs further action.
APPOINTMENT
The ALO is appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the OSG. The ALO is someone with direct experience of Irish Sailing’s High Performance Programme, and someone who is trusted by the athletes to act independently, and is objective in the management of the feedback received.