The Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross, Mr. Donal Forde, has been forced to issue an apology for giving inaccurate evidence to a recent parliamentary Public Accounts Committee hearing (19th January 2012). The hearing was held to investigate financial irregularities, misgovernance and misuse of donor money at the Irish Red Cross.
Following the 19th January hearing the evidence given by Mr. Forde and his two colleagues, Mr. David O’ Callaghan-Chairman and Mr. Ronan Ryan-Fundraising Manager, was challenged in separate written correspondence from the former and highly respected Irish Red Cross Board member, Jennifer Bulbulia and the former Irish Red Cross Head of International Department Noel Wardick.
The Dail (Irish parliament) Public Accounts Committee then forwarded the letters to the Irish Red Cross and requested a formal response to their contents. Faced with this situation and the information contained in the letters Mr. Forde was left with little or no option but to admit the Irish Red Cross had presented inaccurate evidence.
The question remains, however, had Mr. Forde not been challenged by Mr. Wardick and Ms. Bulbulia would he or Mr. O’ Callaghan or Mr. Ryan ever have admitted on record that a significant aspect of the original IRC evidence was inaccurate? Or would their inaccurate evidence have remained as the official response on public record? We will never know of course but readers can come to their own conclusions.
In addition to apologising for serious inaccuracies Mr. Forde was also forced to back track concerning the quality and reliability of his original evidence regarding the undisclosed Tipperary Tsunami Bank account, on which the national Vice Chairman, Anthony (Tony) Lawlor, was a signatory.
At the 19th January hearing Mr. Forde was very definitive in his answers about what happened, who knew what happened, who didn’t know what happened and when people knew what happened. Much of Mr. Forde’s evidence in this regard was factually wrong, inaccurate and incorrect. When subsequently challenged Mr. Forde, on behalf of the Irish Red Cross, has had to row back substantially on his evidence. In his response to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in his letter of 14th February 2012 Mr. Forde was forced to admit:
“However I have to say that I, or my colleagues, were not prepared for some of the very forensic questioning relating to the precise detail of events surrounding the Tipperary Bank account incident through the period from 2005 to 2009”
It is highly unfortunate that during the actual hearing on the 19th January that Mr. Forde nor his two colleagues made such an admission but rather presented information as fact and accurate. They clearly led the Committee members to believe they were speaking with authority on matters that it has now transpired they were not prepared for nor were they knowledgeable about.
Mr. Forde goes on to admit in his letter to PAC:
“I am not in a position to offer a definitive account of those events, nor indeed were any my colleagues on the day”
The question must now be asked why Mr. Forde, despite his admission that he and his colleagues could not provide a definitive account of the situation, did exactly that during the hearing. They presented information as fact and at no stage informed the PAC hearing that they were not in a position to answer questions. Instead they gave inaccurate and incorrect information to an Oireachtas Committee investigating the organisation they represented and presented such information as accurate and correct. Clearly therefore the Dail Public Accounts Committee was misled. Whether the PAC was intentionally misled or not only the Irish Red Cross officials will ever know. Mr. Forde does say in his letter that he did not intentionally mislead the Committee members.
In his letter Mr. Forde further states:
“If I have offered any evidence that is inconsistent with these, I apologise for this but have done so only out of unfamiliarity and not with any intention to mislead”
Mr. Forde has admitted to the PAC that he and his colleagues, in relation to key aspects of the Committee’s questions, were “not prepared”, “not in a position to offer a definitive account” and “uncomfortable” and “unfamiliar”. Mr. Forde has only admitted this after his evidence given on the 19th January was robustly and credibly challenged. At no stage did he make such admissions during the hearing and instead presented serious inaccuracies as fact. He did this despite knowing he was not prepared, was not familiar, was not in a position to offer a definitive account and was uncomfortable in providing answers. This the Irish Red Cross did knowingly before publicly elected representatives of a national parliamentary committee. The fact that they were prepared to do so sums up the culture of the organisation.
In relation to Ms. Bulbulia’s letter (the link to the full letter is below) Mr. Forde says:
“Ms. Bulbulia’s account may well be accurate as it relates to the Tipperary bank account, but I have no basis on which to make judgement”
Ms. Bulbulia’s letter completely contradicts Mr. Forde’s own evidence. Ms. Bulbulia, a board member at the time of the Tipperary bank account’s discovery, has clearly stated on record that she, other board members and the Secretary General were immediately informed in March/April 2008 about the account’s discovery.
Mr. Forde stated to the PAC hearing that no board member knew, that the Secretary General didn’t know and only the Consultant/Head of Finance knew and that he told none of his superiors. Now that Mr. Fore accepts that Ms. Bulbulia’s account may be accurate he must therefore accept that his own statements may be inaccurate. He must also accept that his attempt to scapegoat the former Consultant/Head of Finance by stating at the PAC hearing that he did not inform board members or the Secretary General about the account after he discovered it is grossly wrong and a serious injustice to the individual concerned. Mr. Forde should immediately issue a retraction of his statements in this regard and extend a public apology.
Mr. Forde also states in relation to Ms. Bulbulia’s letter
“Ms. Bulbulia is correct in pointing to two inaccuracies in my evidence and I apologise for these. As I have earlier explained they are attributable to my unfamiliarity with these events and I did not intend to mislead the Committee”
The above is the second time in his letter to PAC of the 14th February that Mr. Forde is forced to apologise and claim he did not intend to mislead the Committee members. Mr. Forde admits that his evidence that the bank account was discovered in August 2008 is inaccurate and that Ms. Bulbulia’s assertion that it was discovered in March/April 2008 is correct. In his evidence to PAC Mr. Forde also stated that when the bank account was discovered in ‘August 2008’ it was immediately transferred to IRC head office in September 2008. Now that Mr. Forde has admitted he was incorrect to say the account was discovered in August 2008 it therefore follows his evidence that the money was ‘immediately’ transferred to IRC head office is also inaccurate. Clearly if the account was discovered in March/April 2008 and only transferred to IRC head office in September 2008 it took a full six months to do so. By providing the wrong information to PAC (unintentionally according to Mr. Forde) Mr. Forde avoided any questions from PAC as to why an undisclosed account, when discovered, would take a further six months to transfer the proceeds (€162,000) to its proper place in IRC head office. Mr. Forde is now surely obliged to answer the questions he avoided by giving inaccurate information.
The link to Ms. Bulbulia’s letter to PAC rejecting Mr. Forde’s evidence is:
It is the view of this Blog that Mr. Forde and his two colleagues should re-present themselves before the Public Accounts Committee so that additional questions can be asked now that the true facts are beginning to materialise. It is also important that the IRC properly account for the inaccurate and 'definitive' information they presented despite now admitting they were not in a position to do so. They must be held to account for doing this.
As part of his conclusion Mr. Forde states in his letter
“The Irish Red Cross has publicly acknowledged the governance failings that have taken place and apologised for them”
The Irish Red Cross fails to comprehend that words are meaningless without action. If the governance failings have been acknowledged why is it that those responsible for these failings such as the Vice Chairman and the Treasurer as well as the acquiescent, complicit and indifferent members of the Central Council and Executive Committee all remain firmly in place controlling and dominating the Society?
Little in reality has changed at the Irish Red Cross. If ever proof was needed the disgraceful performance by Irish Red Cross officials in giving highly inaccurate and incorrect evidence to the Public Accounts Committee confirms this. The culture of deceit, cover up, secrecy, lack of transparency, little or no accountability and appalling governance remains as deep rooted as ever.
This Blog article will conclude with a quote from a letter written by Ms. Jennifer Bulbulia when she was an Irish Red Cross board member and Honorary Secretary of the Society. The letter was addressed to the then Chairman and copied to the entire board and is dated 16th May 2008. It summed up the culture of the Irish Red Cross then and it sums up the culture of the Irish Red Cross in 2012.
“I have attended numerous meetings of the Finance Committee since December and have been truly shocked by the lack of transparency and proper process that has been uncovered”
In January 2012 I wrote to the Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross, Donal Forde asking a few very pertinent questions. The Red Cross being an organisation funded by the tax payers of Ireland. An organisation set up and grounded by the Statutory Rules and Orders 1939 which is an act of Parliament.
ReplyDeleteIf as they suggest in their evidence to the PAC, that the Red Cross has changed its spots, what do they fear from a member of the Red Cross other than the exposure of the truth!
Mr Forde has yet to reply. Here are the questions.
1 When did the officers of the society meet to decide to expel me from a meeting in February 2011?
2. To whom are you referring to, when you accuse me of intimidating and threatening officers of the Society and when did these offences occur?
3. What are the policies on expulsion used by the Irish Red Cross.
4. What are the policies and procedures used by the Irish Red Cross for the purpose of conflict resolution or disputes?
5 What are the policies and procedures used by the Irish Red Cross on receiving a complaint of intimidation, bullying and harassment?
6. When was I afforded the right of common justice in relation to my expulsion from a meeting of the Irish Red Cross in February 2011?
7. Why was a private letter as you have suggested and read out by the chairperson of Donegal Area used to justify my expulsion which quoted a rule which does not exist for the purpose? who authored this secret letter?
8 When will the Society afford me a proper hearing and an apology for the inhuman and embarrassing action taken against me?
9. Why was I not asked to attend the 'meeting' which decided my expulsion so as to insure it was fair, as per natural justice, whereby I could have been permitted to put forward my own case, and also answer questions? This is of course working on the hypothesis that a meeting took place, which should be easily verified by the obtaining of copy of minutes.
10. I would also ask on what specific basis is it you are suggesting was the reason for my expulsion? I was invited to the meeting in February 2011 by the then Area Secretary so it appeared that I was ambushed to cause the greatest level of embarrassment and distress to me ?
11. If it is as you are suggesting that I was expelled correctly and why is it that you have come to change your mind from your noted, original position that you could not, and would not, become involved in local area/branch matters.
Clearly you were involved, if this is not the case, how were you able to determine if I was correctly expelled?
11. Why have the reasons for my expulsion not been forwarded to me, with details of the people who made the determination and on what basis? I would also ask why I was not afforded any appeal mechanism of this decision and on what basis was a decision not to grant an appeal made?
Gerard Moyne
Life Member Irish Red Cross
This is incredible! This Society brings the whole movement into disrepute. What is wrong with its Governing body, are they so blind and so incapable of accepting their responsibility, that they cannot act? What is wrong with the Minister of Defence that he cannot instruct his representatives on this Board to act against this wrongdoing? Why has he not acted to date? It looks like this Minister is showing his true colours. Last night he was asked a very simple question by Mary Wilson on drivetime, will he accept the will of the people in the next referendum, he squirmed his way and answered everything but what she asked. Even though he was asked twice he still did not reply. Can we rely on this Minister to do the right thing. I am certainly not confident in him. If the Red Cross cannot rely on him what chance a Country !
ReplyDeleteI fear the Irish Red Cross have a sporting strategy of "lose it in the long grass" to all the charges of maladministration through poor governance and management.
ReplyDeleteThere is a danger already that the failure of auditors to complete audits of Irish Red Cross over so many years due to the "lost / stolen" deeds of donated properties.
The two evident signs of maladministration of the hiddent Tippearary Tsunami Bank A/c and the secret property portfolio are sure to be the visible part of the iceberg; there are sure to be plenty more skeletons to be unearthed.
Only a comprehensive and independent investigation or review of the management / governance of Irish Red Cross Society will form the basis for the re-organisation urgently needed to restore public confidence.
It is also clear from the PAC performance that Irish Red Cross could not be trusted to hold public meetings and respond to the issues of irregularity with honesty, humility and good intent.
This is a time when people who find themselves in an impossible position resign and surely Mr Lawlor should be the first to fall on his sword.
Those responsible in Tipperary Branch also need to face up to their irresponsibility in hiding money donated for the immediate needs of families caught up in the tsunami catastrophe.
Mr Moyne don't feel that you are alone in respect to the Irish Red Cross management ignoring your basic human rights. Look how they treated Noel Wardick, no right of defence and the very people who are reponsible for the problems acted as his Judges.
ReplyDeleteI think the saying would you buy a used car from these people comes to mind. You will get Justice and I am sure that there are those who really do appreciate your committment to this organisation. Forde is only a bush crammed into the gap. He won't last long enough to worry about him. Anyone who cannot be trusted to tell the truth should be ignored !
Part One of Comment:
ReplyDeleteOn 10th March 2012 the Irish Red Cross will hold another Central Council (CC) meeting.
This is an 'extra' Central Council meeting as normally there would not be one held between December and May/June. The fact that there is to be at least one extra CC meeting is a positive development as CC members are largely irrelevant in the Irish Red Cross despite being the supreme governing authority. This is their own fault as they have allowed themselves be sidelined by one or two Executive Committee members who have all the power. Those who pushed for and got this extra CC meeting should be commended. Their cards will have been marked as trouble makers and their names will be carefully noted as people who pose a serious threat to the ruling elite. I wish them every success in their endeavours to break the strangle hold of the incompetent ruling elite.
Extra meetings are the only way the CC members can wrest control of the Society back from those individuals who have and continue to wreck the Society. The CC members should look for a 2nd 'extra' meeting between May/June and December bringing the total number to 4 CC meetings. The Executive members who rule the Society will not want this and possibly neither will Forde and O' Callaghan as they are clearly protecting those Executive board members who in any other organisation would be immediately ejected. Forde and O' Callaghan showed at the Dail Public Accounts Committee hearing that they are bigtime cheerleaders for the national Vice Chairman, Tony Lawlor. O'Callaghan is a big fan of Lawlor despite Lawlor's record. His singing the praises of Lawlor in the Dail was galling.
Part Two of Comment:
ReplyDeleteOf course these extra meetings of the CC will only be beneficial if they are more than just a talking shop and not a meeting where all the real thorny issues are avoided like the plague.
A good start at the 10th March 2012 Central Council meeting would be for Tony Lawlor and Ted Noonan to be formally asked to resign from all Irish Red Cross board and other committees and not to sit on any such committee for a minimum of five years in the case of the Treasurer and for life with the Vice Chairman. If they do not agree to do so willingly members should vote that they be ejected from the Society. Both men need to confirm they have no intention for running for re-appointment in April 2012 when their current terms expire.
Secondly the Central Council should formally sanction and reprimand the Chairman, David O' Callaghan, The Secretary General, Donal Forde and the Fundraising Officer, Ronnie Ryan for their scandalous performance at the Dail Public Accounts Committee on 19th January 2012 which subsequently resulted in the Society having to apologise in writing to the Dail for giving incorrect evidence. If the CC feels the men knowingly gave inaccurate evidence and thereby knowingly misled the Public Accounts Committee then all three men should be asked to tender their resignations. If their inaccuracies and incorrect information were not intentional but down to poor preparation, carelessness and sloppiness they should be issued with final written warnings.
Thirdly the CC should vote in a 'retrospection' clause to the new Constitution such that service to-date (cumulative service) on both the Central Council and Executive Committee is taken into account when calculating if a member has served 6 years and where they have already served 6 years they should step down for a minimum of three years.
Fourthly the CC must bring in a maximum service limit for Central Council members as the current rule which allows them serve for life is in breach of all good corporate governance practice and is a huge impediment to bringing in new blood with fresh ideas and an understanding of how to run a modern organisation.
O' Callaghan's term of office as Irish Red Cross Chairman expires in April 2012. Lets hope the Minister for Defence appoints a new Chairperson with courage, conviction, sincerity and principles who will not be fearful of rocking the boat and who has no conflict of interest and no loyalty to existing board members or to the Department of Defence. Minister Shatter has the opportunity to really make an impact on the Society by appointing the right person, one of calibre and competence.
A number of CC and Executive Committee members terms will expire in April this year including the near invisible Honorary Secretary Annie Murphy. Lets hope any new government appointees instruct Forde to reform the organisation, desist from covering up past wrongs and hold to account those responsible.
The real tragedy at the Irish Red Cross is the missed opportunity by Donal Forde and David O' Callaghan to fundamentally reform the Society. This has been their single biggest failure since they took up their positions. Not only have they gone out of their ways to protect the likes of Tony Lawlor but they have in doing so implicated themselves in a shameful situation where very inaccurate information and incorrect evidence was provided to the Public Accounts Committee in the Dail. As a result they themselves are under fire because they have committed a serious mistake and damaged their own professional reputations in doing so.
ReplyDeleteAll this will give Tony Lawlor and his ever dwindling band (but still influential and powerful) of supporters the ammunition they need to keep Forde in place towing the party line and to ensure O' Callaghan remains largely invisible and uninvolved.
Any attempt by Forde and O' Callaghan to go after Lawlor will backfire as their damaging performances in the Dail will be thrown back in their faces. In this way Lawlor can ensure Donal Forde and O' Callaghan never come after him now, not that it looked like they were ever going to anyway.
In some ways you have to say fair play to the likes of Tony Lawlor. He pulls people into his net, they get all tangled up, they cant escape without damaging themselves and end up trapped just like Forde O' Callaghan now are. Lawlor knows both men are only passing through and in time they will be gone. And long after they are gone Lawlor will be there, still pulling the strings and that will be the legacy of Donal Forde and David O' Callaghan.
The Irish Independent of 6th March 2012 leads with the headline:
ReplyDelete"Probe into top-ups for €150,000 charity chiefs"
The article relates to charities in the disability sector and for once it didnt directly involve the Irish Red Cross!! Its clear from the article though that such salaries are viewed as excessive and unacceptable so one has to ask what the media would think of the €165,000 paid each year for three years in a row by the Irish Red Cross to its former Acting Secretary General/Finance Consultant. These payments were a scandal approved by the members of the Irish Red Cross Executive Committee and approved by the Central Council members by their total silence and inaction to stop such disgraceful payments. It was because of this Blog that such payments stopped and the salary to Donal Forde was reduced by €70,000!!! Well done Noel Wardick, you are saving the Irish Red Cross a minimum €70,000 a year because you exposed the Irish Red Cross outrageous salary payments to its Secretary General.
The new salary for Donal Forde is €95,000 as he reported to the Public Accounts Committee. He didnt clarify, however, whether he receives any top up or bonus payments.
Members of the Central Council need to clarify whether Donal Forde is paid a top up or bonus at the upcoming Central Council meeting on 10th March 2012. No doubt media enquiries will follow shortly to 16 Merrion Square.
Because of scandals regarding financial matters in the Irish Red Cross more and more charities are coming under the spotlight and questions are being asked of the whole sector. The headline in today's Independent is just the start of it.
Pigs might fly, and Santa will come in June before the Irish Red Cross will divulge what Mr Forde gets in expenses, pensions or top ups. They have not even told their Board about the expenses to staff such as payments for rent, College fees etc. They refused to tell the members and Auditors and the Board anything about the portfolio of properties over the last 30 years. The Vice Chairman almost permanently had 162k resting in a bank account until he was caught. The Irish Red Cross transparent, not a chance !
ReplyDeleteA very good discussion about the Independent newspaper of 6th March article about overpaid charity bosses on politics.ie. Inevitably the Irish Red Cross is mentioned and not in positive terms. Rightly so. The link to the discussion:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politics.ie/forum/health-social-affairs/183428-secret-top-up-payments-charity-chiefs.html
I agree with many of the comments above. The Central Council meeting to be held this Saturday 10th March needs to:
ReplyDelete1.Seek the resignation of the Vice Chairman from all Irish Red Cross committees especially the Executive Committee and the Central Council. Mr. Lawlor needs to be robustly challenged and at least asked to confirm that he has no intention of going for the Vice Chairman position again for the 22nd year in row. His continued presence is as TD Simon Harris (Fine Gael) referred to it, "a distraction" for the Society.
2. Mr Donal Forde and Mr. O Callaghan need to account for their inaccurate evidence given to the Dail's Public Accounts Committee. The Society was forced to apologise in writing for this awful performance. The Fundraising Assistant, Roger Ryan, shouldnt be blamed too much for his evidence as he was probably just doing what he was told but his bosses need to explain themselves.
3. This will be the last Central Council meeting for the current batch of government nominees including the Chairman David O' Callaghan. Included in this category is the Treasurer, Ted Noonan, so despite not resigning when he should have lets hope his term ending sees him depart permanently from national governance of the Society as he has played a key role in ensuring Lawlor stayed in place.
4. Its not clear which Irish Red Cross Constitution will be used for the elections. If the current one is used then the Minister needs to appoint a Chairman and nominate 16 central council reps. If the government approves the new constitution then the government can only nominate 'up to' a maximum of 4 central council reps and the Chairman will be elected by the Central Council. Until the government approves the new constitution the old one applies but its not clear which one will apply come April when the current term ends.
5. Lets hope the Minister can appoint a new Chairperson and as said before lets hope for one with courage and one committed to accountability.
6. If the Central Council for the first time in IRC history gets to elect its own Chairman one wonders will Mr. Lawlor be able to resist putting his name forward for the ultimate prize.....And knowing the weakness and herd mentality of the Central Council he would probably be voted in! And that would seal the future of the Society and send a loud and clear message to all donors.
If the Irish Red Cross new Constitution is approved by the government before end of April (if its not the old rules apply and the Minister will appoint 16 nominees to the Central Council as well as a new Chairman in April) then the Irish Red Cross, according to its new rules, must establish a Nominations Committee to accept nominations for the position of Chairman. The Central Council still votes on the final choice but as the comment above mentions the herd mentality of the Central Council will mean they will do what they are told and vote for whoever the nominations committee recommends (and its doubtful an IRC committee would put forward a range of candidates as that would be tantamount to real democracy).
ReplyDeleteThe Nominations Committee is therefore going to become one of the most powerful and influential committees in the Irish Red Cross. It will have a key influence on important positions. Its critically important it is not hijacked by members of the ruling elite who will do everything to ensure one of their cronies is appointed Chairperson and this will result in a further deterioration of the Society.
The 10th March Central Council meeting should seek to determine who will serve on the Nominations Committee and how they will be chosen. Under no circumstances should Mr. Tony Lawlor be allowed on this Committee although if he is interested in going for the Chairperson position he cant be on the Nominations Committee anyway. Hopefully though some brave soul will stand up this Saturday and ask Mr. Lawlor to resign all positions he holds within the Society for a minimum of 5 years in order to allow the Irish Red Cross recover from the reputational damage he has inflicted on the organisation.
As both the Honorary Secretary, Annie Murphy and Honorary Treasurer, Ted Noonan, are government representatives the meeting on 10th March will be their last Central Committee meeting. Hopefully in April fresh blood with new ideas and courageous modern thinking will replace them. Its unlikely the Minister's 4 nominees (assuming new rules will be approved) will include Ms. Murphy or Mr. Noonan as they were appointed by the last disgraced Fianna Fail government and so Minister Alan Shatter will probably want to cleanse the Irish Red Cross of its Fianna Fail influences.
Today's (9th March 2012) Irish Times, in its Business Section (Page 5) has a damning article on the senior managers who wrecked and ruined AIB. Irish Red Cross Secretary General, Donal Forde, is photographed in the article as he was the former AIB Head of Republic of Ireland Division. The article outlines the litany of shocking incompetence that brought the bank to its knees and cost the Irish taxpayer billions. Earlier this week the bank announced 2,500 job losses.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to Donal Forde the article by Simon Carswell states:
"The biggest losses at AIB were in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) Division run by Donal Forde from 2002 to 2009. Forde was made an AIB director in 2007, left when Colm Donerty, former head of capital markets took charge of AIB in 2009. About 2005, Doherty, a board member at AIB, had raised concerns that big loans were being approved in the retail bank and felt that his own capital markets division, which processed big business loans, was better equipped to approve them"
Once Doherty took over at AIB Donal Forde 'left' AIB.
Given that Forde recently had to apologise to the Dail Public Accounts Committee for giving inaccurate information to the Hearing on the 19th January today's Irish Times article is more bad publicity for him and by extension for the Irish Red Cross.
For those Red Cross members who have this question the word is spelt "TRUTH" I know you have a problem with this word thus the reason for spelling it.
ReplyDeleteI know you need to keep your narcissistic leaders in place on the Central Council as few of you have enough integrity to stand up and be counted as it is much easier to be a wimp. Not unlike the wimps in the UN during the Rwanda genocide, its easier just ignore these things and then pat yourself on the back as having not been a party to the wrong doing.
It must be so cool to be a member of the Irish Red Cross running around playing nurse, whilst you know that for all the good that you do, the people of Haiti suffered more because you took 600k out of the mouths of their children. The victims of the Tsunami also suffered because your Vice Chairman almost got away with hiding 162k, of course not a penny was removed from the account (not the truth) ask O Sullivan.
So this Saturday clap your hands and pat yourselves on the back for allowing the former head of AIB to tell your truth to the PAC. You are as guilty as if you poured the dirt into the mouths of the suffering children.
Just to note: the Irish Red Cross has still not replied to my letter regarding their breach of the rules of the Society and my expulsion from a meeting in February 2011. I wrote to the Secretary General in January and copied the letter to most of the Central Council. I have recieved no responses whatsoever to date. The reality is that not only are they prepared to tell untruths to the Government and the people who fund them, but they are not prepared to offer the right of redress to anyone that takes on the elite that is Tony Lawlor and the rest of the cronies. Where is Justice? certainly it is the fear of allowing any form of "Human Rights" within the Irish Red Cross. Gerard Moyne Life Member Irish Red Cross
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference betwenn a lie and inaccurate when you know what the truth is before you use the inaccuracy. I guess this is a learning curve for children, "In mature recollection" was that not used once by Irish Red Cross. Forde,Ronan and O Callaghan know themselves what they knew and what they didnt know so only they know if the intentionally told inaccuracies or not but lets be honest here the facts were known and available.,
ReplyDeleteMore comments on the popular discussion forum, Politics.ie, about the Irish Red Cross and all its problems:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politics.ie/forum/health-social-affairs/183428-secret-top-up-payments-charity-chiefs-9.html