Dublin City Council have said chief executive Owen Keegan's love of kayaking is "not relevant" to plans to build a €22m white water rafting centre at the IFSC.
The council boss' love of canoing was highlight last week on RTE's Prime Time.
He has been a keen kayaker for almost 50 years and completed the Liffey descent 25 times although he has not competed in the race since 2017.
Plans for the state-of-the-art centre have been met with criticism from the public, with many questioning the need for the facility in the midst of a housing crisis across the country.
A spokeswoman for the council said Keegan's interest in canoing is "irrelevant to the project".
"He [Keegan] has been a keen kayaker for close to 50 years, both in Ireland and abroad," she told the Sunday Business Post.
"However, he has never participated in slalom canoing, which is the Olympic discipline that will use the facility.
"It is worth pointing out that the proposed facility is modelled on a similar facility in Cardiff run by the Cardiff City Council."
The idea for the facility was proposed by assistant chief executive Richard Shakespeare in 2017.
On Monday, councillors voted in favour of the proposal by 37 votes to 19.
Some councillors cited that fact the centre would also be used as a training facility for Dublin Fire Brigade as the reason they voted for the proposal.
Councillor Gary Gannon said: "It’s a strange one admittedly but I placed aside my reservations when a senior member of the Dublin Fire Brigade outlined how important this facility will be to their work.
"They outlined that they rescue more people from water than they do fires each year. The current facilities they use aren’t suitable and place their members at risk."
But Green Party Councillor Hazel Chu said the cost of the project prevented her from voting in favour of it.
She said: "Lots of answers provided and it being a training facility for Dublin Fire Brigade for water rescue is a big plus. But alas I voted against it due to cost and how we need better amenities suitable for all ages."
Work on the project is expect to start next year and take 18 months to complete.
