Joe Reynolds has been appointed as the new chair of Horse Sport Ireland. The announcement was made by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed, and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, last week, following months of speculation surrounding who would fill the position.

The Kildare businessman will replace Jim Beecher, who has been in the position on an interim basis since he took over from Professor Pat Wall in February 2017. Reynolds’ five-year appointment has been widely welcomed.

Reynolds resigned as chair of Dressage Ireland since he accepted his new role. He was chair of Dressage Ireland for the past two years.

Gillian Kyle will now take over as chair of Dressage Ireland. Reynolds is also the father of Judy Reynolds, who is Ireland’s leading dressage rider who is competing in the World Equestrian Games this week.

Speaking about his new position and his plans for HSI, Reynolds said: “Exceptional strides have been made on the Indecon recommendations, within Horse Sport Ireland, over the past 12 months and we are now at a very exciting stage.

“I think the whole thing is going in the right direction. In terms of getting the new board to look further forward, we need to be doing a longer term strategic view. There is always a tendencies, in every organisation, to look at what the problem is for next year but I would like to be looking ahead to where we want to be in five or 10 years.”