Joanna Byrne says she is 'deeply committed' to Drogheda United after she is removed as co-chair

LAST UPDATE | 15 hrs ago

SINN FÉIN TD Joanna Byrne has said she is “deeply committed” to Drogheda United despite being removed as co-chairperson of the League of Ireland club.

Drogheda United’s owners today confirmed Byrne has been removed as a director of the club.

A statement from US investment firm Trivela Group this morning stated that Byrne was removed from her position an thanked her for her “longstanding and ongoing dedication” to the club.

The statement also reveals that the Board of Directors now consists of Benjamin Boycott, Marc Koretzky, Barton Lee, and club CEO Rian Wogan.

Boycott will now serve as the “sole Chairperson, and the club will look to appoint a local director and Co-Chair in due course.”

The statement from Trivela Group further stated is had “issued a written instruction demanding she step down”.

In February, Byrne claimed that the board had said her position was untenable following her calls for a boycott of the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League games with Israel.

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Byrne, the Sinn Féin TD for Louth and the party’s spokesperson on sport, said last month that the club’s board informed her of their concerns “with an expectation that I would resign, something I have told them that I intend to resist”.

In a statement today, Byrne said she wants to see Drogheda United “flourish” and that she will “continue to elevate it, and the League of Ireland more broadly, at every opportunity”.

She was the first female chair of a League of Ireland club when she was appointed to the role.

Byrne said the “past few weeks have been a difficult time for me personally, but I have carried myself with integrity at all times in recent weeks, for the good of the club”.

She added: “This approach is the opposite to the cold, underhand move by Trivela, initiated in the dark of the night, which was planned and co-ordinated without any consultation with me. This is symptomatic of the way they do business.”

Byrne further stated that her statement following the Uefa Nations League draw against Israel was released in her “capacity as the Sinn Féin spokesperson on sport, which never mentioned Drogheda United in any form”.

“The underlying issue here is, as I’ve stated from the beginning, my strong stance that Ireland should not play Israel in the UEFA Nations League while a genocide against the Palestinian people continues,” said Byrne.

Written by Sinead Farrell and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.