Irish Red Cross: A bright new begining or more of the same???

Today, 31st January 2011, sees the first day at work for the new Irish Red Cross Secretary General, Mr. Donal Ford. This Blog wishes him every success for the challenging assignment ahead. The hopes and aspirations of hundreds of volunteers around the country and staff in Ireland and overseas rest on the shoulders of two men, Mr. Forde and Mr. David O’ Callaghan, the Irish Red Cross Chairman appointed in September 2010.

For nearly two decades Irish Red Cross staff and volunteers have seen the Irish Red Cross misgoverned and mismanaged with negative media coverage, calls for independent investigations and parliamentary questions in Dail Eireann (Irish parliament) a regular occurrence. Primary responsibility for virtually every Irish Red Cross internal crisis, and there have been many, rests with a highly dysfunctional governance. Since 2005 alone there have been four separate Secretary Generals. Since 2005 there have been five Heads of Fundraising. In addition there has been a huge turnover of staff across all other departments. Over the last twenty years there has been eight Secretary Generals all of whom left in highly controversial and often extremely acrimonious circumstances. All this points to an organisation suffering from a deep malaise. Central to this malaise are two or three members of the Executive Committee and Central Council and an overall weak and disempowered Central Council which has refused to sanction or remove these individuals. Until this governance issue is addressed once and for all the malaise will continue unabated regardless of who is Secretary General or Chairperson. The power base of this handful of individuals needs to be immediately dismantled. These individuals, who have served on Executive Committee for between 12 and 20 years, in outright breach of good governance practice, need to be told to step down. Should this not happen the fate that awaits Mr. Ford will be the same as that of his eight predecessors.

Any new Secretary General to the Irish Red Cross is at his or her strongest in their first few weeks and months. It is therefore crucial that they use this time and strength to make sweeping and fundamental change. It is during this time that every effort must be made to ensure the removal of the Vice Chairman and have him held accountable for his actions over the Tipperary Tsunami Bank account. The Irish Red Cross will never fire a secretary general in the first few months after his/her appointment and it is this fact that gives the secretary general their power. The further a secretary general gets into their time in office the less concerned the ruling elite on the board fear the negative publicity of firing another secretary general. As such the power of the secretary general begins to diminish quickly after the first eight or nine months as the ruling elite begin once again to interfere and control the day to day running of the organisation. This deterioration in relations usually coincides with the ‘latest’ governance reform proposals advocated by the new secretary general which invariably threaten the ruling elite. The ruling elite will resist and thwart the secretary general at every step of the way and two things generally happen. The secretary general gets so frustrated and despondent that they resign and depart or alternatively the secretary general shows courage and continues to push reform. If this happens relations with the ruling elite on the board will plummet and over some pretence created by the board the secretary general will be fired. Any independent examination of the last twenty years will prove this correct.

Mr. Ford needs to be aware that there is a current set of Irish Red Cross governance reform proposals before the government. The Vice Chairman was on the committee that devised these so called reform proposals. Mr. Ford, if he seeks advice from the right quarters, will be informed that these proposals are designed with one objective in mind and that is the retention of the status quo. Should the proposals be voted into place by the Central Council at its next meeting in February/March they will consign the Irish Red Cross to another decade of turmoil as the same individuals responsible for the last twenty years of turmoil will remain in positions of influence, power and authority. In fact if these proposals are not scrapped there is every real chance the current Vice Chairman will be the new Chairman in 2012 when Mr. O’ Callaghan’s term expires, a mere seventeen months away. The consequences of this do not bear thinking about.

In order to ensure fundamental reform of the Irish Red Cross a number of things need to happen including:

· All Executive Committee members with ten years or more service should step down in May at the end of their current terms and must not present themselves for election to Central Council or Executive for a minimum of three years.
· The supposed governance reform proposals need to be revised substantially as previously outlined on this blog. In particular when members step down after two terms in office they must remain off all committees and the Executive for a minimum of three years and not one year as currently proposed.
· A new Vice Chairman needs to be appointed with immediate effect. The internal report into the Tipperary tsunami bank account clearly states that the Tipperary branch should have been closed down for repeated violations of Irish Red Cross financial and accounting policy. Had this happened, as it should have according to Irish Red Cross policy, Mr. Lawlor would not be the branch chairman. He would not therefore have been elected to the Area Committee and he would not have been elected by the Area Committee onto Central Council and from there to the Executive Committee. As such there is a real question over the legitimacy of Mr. Lawlor’s position as Vice Chairman. He is in this position only because the Irish Red Cross failed to implement its own policy and close the Tipperary branch. Mr. Lawlor’s position as Vice Chairman is therefore null and void. His appointment was only possible because the Irish Red Cross totally disregarded its own policies and procedures. His appointment is therefore invalid.
· There has been a long term plan to create a new volunteer position of National Director of Units. For some inexplicable reason (although we all really know the reason) it is proposed that the office holder of this post would sit on the Executive Committee. It has long been assumed that the current Vice Chairman would take this position once it is created. Should this role go ahead and be confirmed by Central Council the recruitment should be handled by the new Secretary General and the Chairman. It should be an open competition. Most importantly the National Director of Units should NOT sit on Executive. There is no legitimate reason for the post holder to sit on Executive. The current proposals, designed to ensure a certain individual remains on Executive in the event of his removal from his current position, is shameless enough to make that other master of retaining power, Valdamir Putin, blush.

It can only be hoped that Mr. Ford uses his first few months in office to bring in sweeping changes at the level of governance. He will need the full support and endorsement of the Chairman, David O’ Callaghan, as he implements this difficult and dangerous task. All other reform and restructuring is of secondary importance. Should Mr. Forde not succeed in fundamental governance reform and oversee the removal of certain individuals the Irish Red Cross will lose another secretary general within 2 to 3 years, either through despair or termination. Someone once said “If one is to be successful it is imperative that he works towards removing all the hurdles and obstacles coming in his way”. Mr. Ford has a great opportunity to transform the Irish Red Cross and make it one of Ireland’s leading and most respected not-for-profit organisations. Remove THE obstacle and success will be his. Failure to do so and history will repeat itself for the ninth time.

Dictatorial individuals are no more inevitable in private and not-for-profit businesses than dictators are in national governments. They will arise and prosper, nevertheless, if true believers of democracy-citizens devoted to democratic ideals-do not constantly oppose them-Charles Edison

"Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves" and so it is with the Irish Red Cross

The article below was written the morning of 21st January 2011. By afternoon of 21st January 2011 the Irish Red Cross had announced that the new Secretary General will be Mr. Donal Forde, former Executive Director of AIB (one of Ireland's largest banks). This blog would like to sincerely congratulate Mr. Forde on his appointment and wishes him every success in fundamentally reforming and transforming the Irish Red Cross. He has a huge challenge on his hands and any real reform he intends to implement re governance will be feriously resisted by those who have everything to lose from reform, i.e those who have controlled the Irish Red Cross with an iron fist for twenty years. Hopefully Mr. Forde as Secretary General and Mr. O' Callaghan as Chairman will together be able to smash the vested interests that have for so long terribly damaged and shamed the Irish Red Cross.


The announcement of a new and permanent Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross is imminent. It can only be hoped that the Irish Red Cross makes the official statement before the name of the person is leaked out to all and sundry. Central Council members will wish to hear it through proper channels and not through the ever intensifying rumour mill. Time is of the essence.

It is understood the new Secretary General will take up his position on 1st February 2010. In the interim the Chairman of the Society, David O’Callaghan, will take over operational running of the organisation. This follows the departure of the former Acting Secretary General, Declan O’ Sullivan with immediate effect on 20th January 2010. It is understood Mr. O’ Sullivan’s services were no longer required, bringing to a sudden and swift end his twelve month reign.

As soon as the name of the new Secretary General is officially announced this Blog will immediately inform its readers. Recent developments must be seen in an extremely positive light as the process of fundamental reform, which this Blog has made as one of its primary objectives, must begin at the top. The installation of a well qualified, competent, professional, honest, passionate, capable and energetic Secretary General will be an important first step. As such this Blog can only hope the Irish Red Cross has chosen well.

Following the events of yesterday the next major step must be to hold the Vice Chairman of the Irish Red Cross accountable for his unacceptable role in the Tipperary Tsunami bank scandal and the multi-year violation of Irish Red Cross financial and accounting policy. His resignation must be sought and obtained. Should the Irish Red Cross continue to be controlled and dominated by one or two individuals who have breached all recognised good governance practice by remaining in their positions for up to twenty years in some cases then the removal of one Secretary General and the installation of another will be as effective as switching the captain on the titanic after it hit the iceberg.

Justice is the firm and continuous desire to render to everyone that which is his due-Author unknown

Irish Red Cross "at variance with Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting by Charities" according to its external auditors

In 2008 and again in 2009 the external auditors of the Irish Red Cross, BDO, found that the organisation was in breach of standard accounting procedure in relation to its mysterious and secret property portfolio.

In 2008 the external auditor’s report stated:

Properties given for use by and now owned by the Society are not currently recognised in the Society’s financial statements. This is at variance with Statement of Recommended Practice ‘Accounting by Charities’ which requires that assets given for use by the charity should be included as income when received and an equivalent amount capitalised on the Balance Sheet.

The Society owns a number of properties whose cost is not reflected in the book value of fixed assets. It is believed that these properties were given for use by the Society over a period of years. The insured value of these properties is approximately €4.5 m. No professional valuation on an open market existing use basis has been undertaken. The Society is currently examining the best way to incorporate these assets in the Society’s financial statements in the future.

Twelve months later what progress had been made in ‘incorporating’ these assets in the Society’s financial statements? The answer is NONE! In 2009 the external auditor’s report carried the exact same statement as it had included in 2008. There is, however, one significant difference. In 2009 the external auditors reported that ‘The insured value of these properties is approximately €7 million’. This is a whopping €2.5 million increase in the value of the Irish Red Cross property portfolio in a twelve month period. This is all the more remarkable given that in 2009 property prices across Ireland were in near free fall but yet the value of Irish Red Cross’s property portfolio increased by 56%. Despite this extraordinary increase the Irish Red Cross failed in its duty to record even one property in its financial statements.

The fact that the Irish Red Cross property fiasco has occurred is another example of corporate governance failure at the Society. No-one has been held accountable. Spectacular corporate governance failure and a complete absence of accountability is a defining feature of the Irish Red Cross. Certain individuals are responsible for the property scandal and they are easily identifiable. It is incumbent on the Executive Committee and its master, the Central Council, to take decisive action on this matter. Failure to do so implicates everybody on these bodies. Abraham Lincoln, US President 1861-65, was correct when he said ‘To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men’.

The Irish Red Cross has confirmed it has properties insured to the value of €7 million. It has, to-date, refused to release to its own board members on the Executive Committee and Central Council details of these properties. Who exactly is making the decision to breach Standard Accounting Practice and who is making the decision not to provide a detailed list of these properties to board members? And on what authority are they making such decisions?

It is to be remembered that these properties were donated by individuals and families to the Irish Red Cross for the benefit of the Society and the continued refusal to provide the details to members is a complete betrayal of the trust of these kind benefactors. More importantly it will surely discourage any future property donations to the Irish Red Cross.

If the €7 million value on Irish Red Cross property is accurate then this would imply that in the current depressed property market the Irish Red Cross could have upwards of twenty five individual properties around the country. This calculation is based on an average house price of circa €275,000. This Blog is aware of five properties owned by the Irish Red Cross, details of which are provided below. The value of these properties does not, however, come within a country mile of €7 million. It must also be remembered that the Irish Red Cross head office in Dublin is not a property owned by the Society. It is owned by the Irish Government (Office of Public Works) and as such cannot be included in the €7 million valuation.

Central Councils members, Executive Committee members and general members should be asking the following questions:

1. Why is the Irish Red Cross, over many years, in breach of Standard Accounting Practice and why, despite instructions from the external auditors, BDO, has the matter not been rectified? Will those responsible be held accountable?
2. Why has a full and detailed list of all Irish Red Cross properties never been provided to Central Council members and Executive Committee members? Such a list should immediately be compiled and issued by post or email to all Central Council members. This will allow members sufficient time to review the list and discuss in detail at the February Central Council meeting.
3. If the properties are insured for €7 million that implies the insurance company was provided with a detailed list of all the properties, their location, size, number of rooms, whether residential or business etc. It is not acceptable that a faceless insurance company would have this information while members of the Central Council and Executive Committee do not.
4. If the Irish Red Cross has an extensive property portfolio then why is it not generating a substantial income for the Irish Red Cross? No property or rental income appears in the accounts of the Irish Red Cross. If rent is being paid where is it going?
5. What are all these properties around the country being used for?
6. Are there individuals and/or families living in these properties? If so are they paying rent? If they are paying rent who are they paying rent to? Who signed the leases? Who decides on the rental charge? Who determines the tenants?
7. Are Irish Red Cross branches using these properties? Are the properties registered in the name of individual branches or the head office? Are any of these properties generating income for branches?
8. Are private businesses using these properties? If so what type of businesses? Are they paying rent to the Irish Red Cross? Who decides such matters? Where are all the lease agreements? If there is rental income where is it going as no rental income appears in Irish Red Cross accounts?
9. Where are all the deeds of ownership to these properties? In whose custody are the deeds? Are they all in the head office? In the safe of a designated bank? If not where are they, who has them?
10. With such a valuable portfolio why is there no Property Management Strategy in place? Are people with no property portfolio expertise making the decisions?
11. If members of Executive and Central Council do not have a list of the properties then who is making the decisions on the properties and where did they get the authority to make such decisions and why do they keep these decisions from the majority of board members?
12. Why were some of the properties not sold during the property boom and the money invested appropriately for the long term benefit f the Irish Red Cross?

As referred to above this Blog is aware of at least five properties in the name of the Irish Red Cross and they are as follows:
1. Brackbaun, Kilbeheny, Co. Limerick (This property is used by Irish Red Cross for occasional training and storing of stocks and supplies. It is hugely underutilized)
2. Rathdown Upper, Delgany, Rathdown, Co. Wicklow
3. Laragh East, Brockagh, Ballinacor North, Co. Wicklow
4. Gully, Bandon, Kinalmeaky, Co. Cork (this would appear to be in use by the Bandon Branch of the Irish Red Cross)
5. Town-Plots, Kinsale Urban, Kinsale, Co. Cork

Irish Red Cross branch members in the above areas may or may not be familiar with these properties especially if they are in use by the Irish Red Cross. It is obvious, however, that the value of the above five properties is nowhere in the region of €7 million and it is questionable if their combined value would reach the €1 million mark. That leaves a possible €6 million in properties unaccounted for.

Strength is Happiness. Strength is itself victory. In weakness and cowardice there is no happiness. When you wage a struggle you might win or you might lose. But regardless of the short term outcome, the very fact of your continuing struggle is proof of your victory as a human being-Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese Peace Activist

Actions of senior voluntary members a "serious governance risk for the Irish Red Cross" according to internal investigation

Following intense political and media pressure after revelations that officers of the Irish Red Cross Tipperary Branch, including the organisation’s current Vice Chairman, Tony Lawlor, had an undeclared bank account for over three years containing €162,000 collected for victims of the Asian tsunami in 2005, the Irish Red Cross launched an internal investigation in November 2010. Despite many weaknesses in the report, a clear conflict of interest for the three investigators who are part of Irish Red Cross governance structures and the failure to interview key informants the report nevertheless highlights a litany of financial and administrative failures by the officers of the Tipperary branch. It categorically demonstrates that certain individuals, who have yet to be held accountable, were guilty of constant violations of Irish Red Cross accounting policy over at least a three year period. The damning report opens up as many questions as it attempts to answer. It will therefore be incumbent on the new Secretary General, once appointed, to ensure these questions are both answered and dealt with.

The internal report, which is available on line at

http://www.redcross.ie/corporate_site/quick_links/home/tsunami_emergency_nationwide_appeal_internal_review_december_2010

concludes on at least three occasions that what transpired at the Tipperary branch and at other branches posed a serious risk to the governance of the Irish Red Cross. In one section the report states:

“Concerns were also raised to the reviewers that senior voluntary members serving on National Committees were reluctant to support the professional staff in applying rules relating to how non compliant Branches would be dealt with”. The report accepts that “this may have been so” while also noting that “it was not in our view malicious in motivation but motivated by a concern for volunteers who may be under pressure”. Most importantly, however, in relation to the excuses and explanations given by senior volunteers, the internal report states “These concerns while understandable are misguided and pose a serious governance risk for the Irish Red Cross”.

In any well functioning organisation individuals or groups of individuals whose actions are deemed to “pose a serious governance risk” to the organisation would be removed immediately and banned from holding office in that organisation ever again.

The last sentence of the internal report states that this whole episode has been a “very painful learning experience for the IRC at all levels and has significantly undermined the organisation”. At the end of the day there can be only one conclusion and it’s that the internal report is clearly implying certain individuals have, through their actions and behaviours, “undermined” the Irish Red Cross. The question must therefore be asked why those same individuals have not only not been held to account but why does at least one of them continue to occupy a senior honorary officer position on the National Executive of the organisation?

The internal report also calls for “appropriate and clear procedures to protect the organisation and its dedicated volunteers and staff”. If those very individuals responsible for “undermining” the organisation are not comprehensively dealt with and remain in positions of power and authority then the report is absolutely correct in calling for “procedures to protect the organisation”. Senior individuals have clearly shown themselves more than capable of violating critically important organisational rules and regulations to the detriment of the Society. In the absence of their immediate removal from office extremely rigorous and robust procedures combined with their strict implementation are urgently required to protect the Irish Red Cross and to significantly dilute the influence of these people.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that happen-Martin Luther King

"Serious administrative failures" and "serious deficiencies in accounting procedures" at Irish Red Cross but still no-one is held accountable

The lack of accountability within the Irish Red Cross must be one of its most defining characteristics.

An internal report by the Irish Red Cross on the handling of the Tipperary Tsunami bank account, despite many serious shortcomings, is nevertheless a damning indictment on the organisation and those responsible for what happened. The internal report not only exposes the violation of financial procedures around the Tipperary Tsunami bank account it highlights the fact that officers of the Tipperary Branch, of whom the current organisational Vice Chairman is one, flagrantly ignored Irish Red Cross policy concerning all branch bank accounts and finances over at least a three year period. Why did they behave in this fashion? Why was it allowed happen year after year? And why, after it has been officially exposed in an internal report, is no-one being held accountable?

The internal report makes it very clear that such behaviour and practise is “unacceptable”. The report also states that the Tipperary branch should have been issued a final written warning and if it still continued with its violation of policy it should have been closed down. Given that the Tipperary Branch Officers regularly and year on year violated Irish Red Cross financial and accounting policy the question must be asked why the branch was not closed and all officers stood down. Had this happened and had Irish Red Cross regulations been implemented the current organisational Vice Chairman, who has been in his post for twenty years, would have been automatically forced to resign his post. The current Vice Chairman is elected to the post via the Tipperary Branch to the Area Committee to Central Council to the Executive Committee. If the Tipperary Branch was closed down, as it should have been due to its repeated failure to adhere to organisational finance procedures, then the Vice Chairman’s election to the Area Committee, Central Council and Executive Committee would automatically be null and void. Therefore his election as Vice Chairman would automatically be null and void and he would have been forced to step down.

The issuing of a final written warning to the Tipperary Branch and its eventual closure should have taken place somewhere between 2005 and 2008. This is clearly noted in the internal Irish Red Cross report. Why did this not happen? Why did members of the Executive Committee not close the Tipperary Branch or at the very least insist that those officers responsible for the unacceptable actions resign immediately? Who were they afraid of? Why did they fail in their duties? Who was protecting whom? And what was really happening in the Tipperary Branch?

Had the Executive Committee and its master, the Central Council, acted decisively in 2005/06/07 the Irish Red Cross would most certainly have a different Vice Chairman today. In addition an organisational reform and transformation agenda would have been well and truly underway. A very different Irish Red Cross would now exist. Unfortunately the reality is a damaged and under performing organisation. No-one has been held accountable for clear violations of policy and an outrageous misuse/non use of publicly donated money over nearly a four year period.

Much of the focus of this Blog during 2011 will be on accountability. It has now been established beyond doubt that there are serious failings within the Irish Red Cross. The Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen, has admitted this in the Dail. The Irish Red Cross Chairman, David J. O’ Callaghan, has admitted this on public record. Those responsible for these failings MUST be held accountable. Until they are the Irish Red Cross will be unable to move forward.

Much of what this Blog has written about during 2010 has been fully vindicated by Irish Red Cross’s own internal investigation. Sadly much more remains to be investigated and revealed. Even during the recent Christmas period Irish Red Cross could not escape being mentioned on TV3’s program, Ireland’s Biggest Scandals. This program analysed and commented on a number of big Irish scandals over the years. In discussing Charles Haughey, a former Irish Prime Minister implicated in a number of corrupt activities, the well known and respected journalist Kevin Myers stated that ‘Charles Haughey helped create the Provisional IRA. He did this by giving them £100,000 which was channelled through the Irish Red Cross’. This shocking revelation is covered at more length in the Arms Trial transcripts as well as in Jack Lynch’s (former Irish Prime Minister) official biography. All this, however, supposedly happened over thirty years ago. The focus of this blog is not on accusations of funding the IRA but on much more recent issues and the need for those to be investigated. The accusation of funding the IRA via the Irish Red Cross, while deeply disturbing, was dealt with by the Irish Government, the Courts and the Irish police at the time.

When it comes to genuine accountability, something which requires real courage and integrity, the Irish Red Cross could do well to take a leaf out of the book of the Ancient Romans. They had a tradition that took accountability to new heights. Whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch.

Oh that the Irish Red Cross leadership could demonstrate such bravery and mettle.

During 2011 the Irish Red Cross Central Council, the organisation’s supreme governing authority, will hold a minimum of three meetings, the first in February and thereafter in May and November. They may of course decide to hold more should they deem it necessary. The February meeting will hopefully provide the Central Council an opportunity to meet the newly appointed permanent Secretary General. This Blog would encourage the Central Council to also hold a full scale General Assembly in 2011. There is no legitimate reason for a General Assembly not to have taken place since 2005, when one is supposed to take place every two years. Again this is a failure of accountability and an insult to organisational democracy.

2011 will bring many changes in Ireland and it is hoped that such change will permeate all the way down to the Irish Red Cross. Central Council members must re-assert their authority and control of the organisation. Central Council must accept its responsibility and not continue to abdicate its duties. As someone very wisely said “No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible”. But EVERY snowflake IS responsible.

There are many issues within the Irish Red Cross that need addressing and reform but the following three matters must be a priority for early 2011:

1. Those officers implicated in the Tipperary Tsunami Bank account scandal and responsible for the clear violation, over a number of years, of financial and accounting policy must be held fully accountable for their actions. In addition a number of serious shortcomings in the internal report must be addressed, corrected and further investigated.

2. The long running practice by the Irish Red Cross of using Overseas Disaster Appeal money to fund domestic activities and expenses must cease immediately and a full independent investigation launched so that those responsible are fully held to account and removed from the Society. All monies raised for Overseas Disasters but channelled to domestic expenses must be returned to the International Department. As the sums involved are vast this will need to be carefully managed so as not to jeopardise the financial stability of the organisation.

3. The Irish Red Cross reportedly has a property portfolio of €7 million. The Irish Red Cross external auditors have stated in the accounts of the Irish Red Cross that the Society is “at variance with Standard Accounting Practice for Charities” in not declaring these properties as income in its accounts and recording them as assets on its balance sheet. The auditors have stated this in their formal report in 2008 and again in 2009. Mystery and secrecy surrounds the Irish Red Cross property portfolio. A full independent investigation into this matter needs to commence immediately, the deeds of ownership of all properties declared, a full list of the properties produced and their current uses and income outlined in full to each and every Central Council member. Continued breaches of Standard Accounting Practice must cease forthwith.

The next twelve months can either be a time of change and rebirth for the Irish Red Cross or it can be a time of stagnation and decline. With a new Chairman in place and a soon to be new Secretary General there is no better time for fundamental reform to take place and previous wrongs to be reversed. For this to happen though those responsible for the sins of the past must be held accountable and be seen to be held accountable while those responsible for ensuring they are held accountable must do so.

It’s not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable-Moliere

Failures by Irish Red Cross Tipperary Branch over a number of years "a serious governance issue for the IRC" according to internal report

Before getting into the main purpose of this article readers should know that there was an extensive debate on the Irish Red Cross in Dail Eireann (Ireland’s national parliament) on 15th December 2010. It involved the Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen and the Defence Spokespersons from the two main opposition parties, David Stanton, Fine Gael and Brian O’Shea, Labour, both of who will likely be in government following the general election early next year. One notable development from the debate is that a clear signal has been given by the International Federation of Red Cross in Geneva that they now want a greater involvement in the Irish Red Cross reform process. This is to be welcomed. It would appear the International Red Cross has become increasingly concerned and the recent report into the Tipperary bank account will only serve to heighten those concerns. Weaknesses in the internal report into the Tipperary bank account, especially the fact that Noel Wardick (former Head of International until his sacking in Nov 2010), Carmel Dunne (former Secretary General until 2007), Jennifer Bulbulia (Board member who resigned in 2009 because IRC refused to investigate Tipperary bank account) and David Andrews (former Chairman between 1999 and 2009) were not interviewed as part of the investigation. The link to the debate
is:

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2010/12/15/00011.asp

In addition to the oral debate involving the above three senior politicians numerous others had put down written questions on the Irish Red Cross which were replied in writing by the Minister (all available on the Oireachtas Debates website, 15th December 2010). The Minister unfortunately gave his standard 'non-answers' to these questions. The following are the politicians who had questions down for answer while the last two (7 and 8) made reference to Noel Wardick's dismissal in the Seanad (Senate, Upper House of Irish Parliament) during debates on Whistleblowing legislation:

1. Ciaran Lynch, Labour
2. Liz Mc Manus, Labour
3. Joe Costello, Labour
4. Brian O' Shea, Labour
5. Jim O' Keefe, Fine Gael
6. Kathleen Lynch, Labour
7. Senator David Norris, Independent
8. Senator Ronan Mullen, Independent

The purpose of this article is to formally respond to the Irish Red Cross internal investigation report into the Tipperary Branch:

The Irish Red Cross has now carried out an internal investigation into its Tipperary Branch following relentless pressure from the media, Dail Eireann (Ireland’s national parliament) and this Blog. For over two and a half years the Irish Red Cross steadfastly refused to investigate the discovery of an undeclared bank account within the Tipperary Branch containing €162,000, collected from the general public for victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. In the end, however, the Society had no option but to investigate following a barrage of continual and ever louder criticism. Irish Red Cross refused to carry out an independent investigation and instead opted for an internal one carried out by three members of its current governance structures. Despite serious weaknesses and fundamental flaws the report contains some damning findings not least of which is the total failure of certain officers of the Irish Red Cross Tipperary Branch, including Mr. Tony Lawlor, current organisational Vice Chairman, to adhere to Irish Red Cross financial and accounting rules and procedures. The full Irish Red Cross internal investigation report can be found on-line at:

http://www.redcross.ie/corporate_site/latest_news/publications/2010_publications

Below is this Blog’s formal response to that report:

A response to the Irish Red Cross Internal Investigation Report into the Tsunami Tipperary Bank Account

The Irish Red Cross has appointed an independent accounting firm to investigate how €162,000 of donations to victims of the Asian Tsunami went untouched for over three years in a Tipperary bank account-saying it has “nothing to hide”-5th September 2010, Sunday Independent

The Irish Red Cross, which has been dogged in recent months by high turnover of senior staff, allegations of improper governance, financial mismanagement and operating in a “toxic” culture, has abandoned its independent inquiry into how €162,000 in donations languished in a Tipperary bank account controlled by a former acting Chairman (Tony Lawlor) for three years-10th October 2010, Sunday Independent

This trawl (of Bank of Ireland accounts in the name of IRC) led to the uncovering of 49 unreported accounts amounting to €214,000 of which the Tipperary account of €162,960 was the most significant. Also of concern was that the IRC HQ did not receive any of the required returns from the Tipperary branch in 2005 and 2006 while the 2007 returns were not submitted until November 2008 even then they were incomplete i.e no bank statements or reconciliation. This is a clear breach of IRC rules and should have resulted in the branch being issued with a final warning, and if matters remained unresolved being closed down. A further concern was that when the 2007 return was submitted by the Tipperary Branch there was no mention of the Tsunami account, the existence of which was formally discovered by the IRC HQ in April 2008 when the Bank of Ireland report on all accounts held in the name of the IRC was examined in IRC HQ-Internal Irish Red Cross report, December 2010

Mr. Tony Lawlor remains Chairperson of the Tipperary Branch and Vice Chairman of the Irish Red Cross nationally.

Purpose

This blog has had the opportunity to read and review the internal Irish Red Cross report into the Tsunami Tipperary Bank Account and feels it is necessary and in the public interest to formally respond on record to correct a number of worrying and serious inaccuracies as well as omissions.

A number of the report’s findings are, however, a welcome and highly uncharacteristic admission of deep rooted failings and inadequacies. The release of a press statement openly admitting these failings is unprecedented in the Irish Red Cross which is normally characterised by secrecy, deceit, lack of transparency and an entrenched reluctance to communicate openly. So despite significant shortcomings in the internal report, a number of the findings are important and help shed light on a highly dysfunctional organisation. The report’s authors should be commended for some very strong statements made in the report and the new Irish Red Cross Chairman is to be acknowledged for making the report available to the media and general public.

It is noted that the investigation was an internal one and not independent. Much criticism has been levied at the Irish Red Cross over its decision to cancel a previously announced independent investigation and instead opt for an internal one. The result of this decision is obvious. The report is seriously compromised in a number of aspects but most importantly it fails to allocate blame to those blatantly and obviously responsible for failing to declare the Tipperary Bank account to head office. If those responsible for their unacceptable actions are not held to account and seen to be held to account then the value of the report will be greatly diminished. This blog would take the view that the findings of the report warrant the immediate resignation, from all positions within the Irish Red Cross, of the Tipperary Branch officers involved.

This formal response will go through the Internal Report section by section and respond where necessary. As follows:

Introduction

The report says “Interviews were conducted with Declan O’ Sullivan, Anna Marie O’ Carroll, Tony Lawlor, Eileen Keane, Des Kavanagh, Ted Noonan, John Roycroft and Bernadette Lawlor Lennon”.

The fact that the team of investigators failed to interview Noel Wardick, former Head of the International Department, means the report is fundamentally compromised as by any standard he must be considered a key participant. From reading the report and the numerous inaccuracies it is obvious that Noel Wardick’s input was not included and as a result the investigation team have misunderstood a number of important aspects of the Irish Red Cross and how decisions were and are taken. Did the investigation team have access to critically important correspondence issued over the years by Noel Wardick? No investigation could have been completed properly or accurately without access and review of these files.

The internal investigators also failed to interview Carmel Dunne, the Irish Red Cross Secretary General until mid 2007. The internal investigators failed to interview Jennifer Bulbulia, Central Council member and Honorary Secretary during the Tsunami who resigned in mid 2009, citing one of the reasons the failure by the organisation to investigate the Tipperary bank account. In addition the internal investigators failed to interview David Andrews, Chairman of the Irish Red Cross from 1999 to 2009. The decision not to interview Andrews, Dunne, Bulbulia and Wardick is inexplicable. The report is severely compromised as a result.

It is also critically important to note that the three internal investigators and authors of the internal report faced serious conflicts of interest because of the following:

1. Liam O’Dwyer and Michael Halligan were members of Central Council and the Irish Red Cross Finance Working Group at the time of the Tsunami in 2005.

2. Liam O’Dwyer, Michael Halligan and Angela Coen are all currently members of Irish Red Cross governance structures.

3. Angela Coen has at least one family member on the Irish Red Cross Training Working Group. Tony Lawlor (one of the subjects of the investigation) is also a member of the Training Working Group.

Findings

The report says “...a decision was made by the IRC Executive Committee that the money collected by the IRC (for the Tsunami) would be spent over a period of five years”

The decision to develop a five year plan and spend the money over a five year period was taken by the former Head of the International Department, Noel Wardick. This decision was approved by the then Secretary General. This blog is not aware whether or not this decision was ever discussed with the Executive Committee.

Following the recruitment of Noel Wardick to Irish Red Cross in October 2005 it was obvious from the outset that the Irish Red Cross was struggling to manage and get to grips with the scale of the donations it had received, €32 million, and how and what to spend it on. This was no different to every other aid organisation across the globe who were responding to the tsunami. When Noel Wardick first joined there was massive pressure coming via the Executive ‘to spend and to spend quickly’. At the level of the Executive there was a fundamental dearth of knowledge and understanding around operating and implementing direct country operations overseas and the complexities and challenges of working in such environments. The Secretary General at the time, Carmel Dunne, was particularly supportive during these initial months and as such much progress was made. The priority in those first months after Wardick’s recruitment was to build the capacity of the International Department in Dublin and equally importantly the capacity of IRC overseas teams to ensure the Society could guarantee the effective use of the public’s money. What is most disappointing about the Irish Red Cross internal report is its attempts to link the weaknesses and lack of capacity in the head office finance department during the years 2005-2010 with the unacceptable failure by officers of the Tipperary Branch to declare and submit the €162,000 collected for the Tsunami. The weaknesses in the head office finance department had absolutely nothing to do with the Tipperary Bank Account situation. IRC has very clear procedures and policies in this regard and these procedures were in existence and known to all branches in 2005. All blame for the undeclared Tipperary Bank account rests 100% with those officers in Tipperary who knew about the money and failed to declare it. No blame for this can be attributed to any staff member as it was not their responsibility to report branch accounts. Equally importantly if staff did not know of the existence of accounts because the information was withheld from them they could not be expected to do anything about it. On this critical aspect, blaming the finance department, the investigators have erred significantly. It was very obvious, however, from October 2005 that the Irish Red Cross had a fundamental lack of capacity within its head office finance department. This point was made abundantly clear over a five year period and requests for change and improvement were constantly made. Many improvements have been made to the finance department but it is still significantly short of capacity and experience. The decisions not to recruit additional finance staff to support a massive international disaster response operation and a growing complexity in the organisation's activities was a serious mistake and one presumably made by the Executive Committee. They must be held accountable for this grave error in judgement. Nevertheless it must again be pointed out that even if the Irish Red Cross had sufficient capacity in its head office finance department the Tipperary bank account situation would still have arisen simply because if head office does not know bank accounts exist then they cannot do anything about them. The internal investigators have made a big error in trying to explain that the failure by Tipperary branch officers to declare the Tsunami bank account was because of a weak and short staffed finance department in Dublin. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes the finance department was weak and short staffed but this in no way contributed to or can explain the failure by Tipperary branch officers to carry out their duties and declare and submit the money to Dublin until it was discovered during a secret internal audit nearly four years later.It is important that the internal investigators are made aware of the very robust financial accounting procedures and systems implemented by the International Department in all its overseas operations. For example in Indonesia and Sri Lanka the International Department recruited expatriate finance controllers to oversee all financial and administrative matters relating to each country. The respective finance controllers then established a finance and administration department within the country operation which was then staffed with numerous skilled national staff. As an example the Irish Red Cross national finance officer in Sri Lanka (who reported to the expat Finance Controller) was a qualified accountant. The Irish Red Cross finance department in Indonesia was bigger and more resourced than the finance department in Dublin. The reason the International Department had a highly skilled and properly resourced finance and administration department in all its overseas operations is because the Executive Committee was not involved in such decision making. In 2005 the Irish Red Cross finance department had no Finance manual or guidelines for its overseas operations and little apparent interest in developing one. During 2008/09 the International Department unilaterally decided, with Secretary General approval, to take on the development of a finance policy in this regard and a comprehensive one was researched and finalised.

The refusal to properly staff the head office finance department and other head office departments was done consciously by members of the Executive Committee, in the view of this Blog, to ensure they maintained total and micro control over the workings of the Society. None of these weaknesses can, however, be used to explain away the failure by the Tipperary branch officers to carry out their duties and declare the Tsunami bank account.

The internal report states “The concerns identified by both the auditors and the consultants were compounded by human resource issues arising in the IRC HQ. On top of which the sudden departure of the then Secretary General in mid 2007 left a leadership gap in the organisation. In any consideration of the matters which later emerged this context is important since it shows a picture of an organisation operating in an outdated manner with poor systems and under resourced and demotivated staff”

The last sentence in the quote above is accurate and to be welcomed. It recognises that the Irish Red Cross was and still is a highly dysfunctional organisation controlled by a handful of people on the Executive Committee. Ms Dunne’s ‘sudden departure’ was all to do with her desire to reform the organisation and smash the power bases of the ruling elite on Executive. For this she was rewarded with a ‘sudden departure’. Once again while the internal investigators have identified a range of human resource and staff morale problems none of these were responsible in any shape or form for the failure of Tipperary branch officers to declare the tsunami bank account to head office as they were fully obliged to do. It is very disconcerting that the internal investigators seem to be attempting to put the decision not to declare the Tipperary account down to a range of other problems that existed within the Irish Red Cross at the time. These problems did exist and they were serious but they in no way explain the Tipperary back account situation. It is very simple. The Tipperary Branch has an appalling record over a number of years of not reporting its accounts to head office. It is the considered view of this Blog that the Tipperary branch has been afforded protection against sanction because the Chairman of the Tipperary Branch also serves as the Vice Chairman of the national Executive Committee. There is an unacceptable conflict of interest here. The people who are clearly breaking the organisation’s rules and procedures are also the same people who not only determine those rules and procedures but are responsible for issuing sanctions if and where those rules and procedures are broken. It is because of this unacceptable conflict of interest and concentration of power that certain individuals have always felt themselves above the ‘rules of the organisation’. It is the view of the Blog that branch officers should not be permitted to sit on the national Executive Committee. Just as County Councillors must resign when elected to the Dail branch officers should also resign when elected to Executive.

One of the primary reasons the Tipperary situation arose is because certain individuals felt they could operate with impunity. Unfortunately they did operate with impunity and continue to operate with impunity. They believed they were untouchable and accountable to no-one. The Tipperary saga has nothing to do with short staffing or lack of resources in headquarters. It happened because certain people flagrantly breached the organisation’s rules and were never held to account. The reason they were not held accountable is because they were the very same people who decide who is accountable and who is not.

The internal report says “The account remained open with the monies collected intact until the 23rd of September 2008 when the monies now totalling €162,960 were transferred to the IRC HQ Tsunami account”.

It is important to note that the above money was not ‘willingly’ transferred to Dublin in the truest sense of that word. The Tipperary Branch had no option but to transfer the money because a secret internal audit had discovered it and effectively the Branch was ‘forced’ to return the money.

The internal report says “There is no evidence of any movements in this account during 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 apart from the full transfer to the IRC and a €1,000 and a separately a €100 withdrawal and subsequent the return of same due to a misunderstanding between the bank and the Branch”

When exactly did the return of the above monies take place? Did the return of these monies take place AFTER the bank account was discovered by head office? This is not addressed in the internal report and it is a serious failing not to do so. The report also fails to address what it means by a “misunderstanding between the bank and the branch”. What exactly is the nature of this misunderstanding? Was any official of the Tipperary bank in question interviewed to ascertain their opinion on this misunderstanding? The fact of the matter is €1,000 and €100 was withdrawn from the Tsunami account. No money should ever have been withdrawn from this account as no-one apart from the International Department, with the authority of the Secretary General (and approval of Executive), has the authority to decide how public appeal money is spent. Certainly no branch officer has permission to make such decisions. Why this money was taken out of this bank account and what was it spent on before being returned is not addressed in the report. In the absence of any explanations by the investigation team serious questions must arise over this matter and further investigation is clearly required.

The internal report says “In this context it was decided at Branch level, to leave the money in the designated deposit account and transfer it as and when IRC HQ needed it”.

This statement is entirely reflective of the extreme arrogance and attitude of certain members involved in this case and their belief that they operate with impunity. First and foremost no-one in the International Department had any knowledge whatsoever of the existence of €162,000 in a Tipperary bank account designated for Tsunami projects. The former Head of the International Department at the time, Noel Wardick, was first informed by the then Secretary General, John Roycroft, by way of a phone call, sometime in September/October 2008, over six months after the account was first discovered in April 2008. As such the International Department would never have been in a position to ask the Tipperary branch to release the money ‘when it was needed’ as the International Department never knew of its existence. Secondly no branch officer has any authority whatsoever to retain monies collected for an overseas appeal. This point must be reiterated very strongly. No Irish Red Cross branch has any authority to retain monies collected for an overseas appeal. Every single Irish Red Cross branch is obligated to send every penny of money collected for an overseas appeal to Irish Red Cross HQ in Dublin as soon as is reasonably possible after the money is collected. As Head of the International Department it was then Noel Wardick’s responsibility, in conjunction with the Secretary General, to decide on how monies collected for an overseas would be spent and over what time frames. Individual branches have no hand, act or part in such decisions. It is absolutely NOT a matter for any branch officer to ‘decide’ when they will release money to the International Department. It is simply not within their authority to make such decisions. Decisions to do so therefore represent a clear abuse of power.

The internal report stated “Both the Branch Chairperson and the PRO indicated that they had no concerns about this since the account was an IRC designated deposit account not for use locally. They did acknowledge that for the money to remain untransferred for 3.5 was excessive...”

Did the internal investigators ask the Tipperary branch officers involved how long they would have kept the Tsunami money undeclared had the account not been discovered by the secret internal audit and what would have happened to the money had they not been forced to return the money to HQ? It is entirely a matter of conjecture of course as to how long the Tipperary branch would have kept this account secret but any sense given by the internal report that the money was willingly returned after 3.5 years is incorrect. The Branch had no option but to transfer the money to Dublin.

The failure of the Tipperary branch to transfer the money to Dublin was problematic for the International Department as its plans and priorities are determined based on the budget available to it. In late 2008 the International Department was already well on its way towards planning its exit strategies from direct operations in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The announcement that the Department suddenly had an additional €162,000 meant it had to readjust all its budgets and expenditure plans. Branch officers in Tipperary including the national Vice Chairman would NOT have any detailed understanding or knowledge of overseas day to day operations and/or priorities and are not professionally qualified in the area of development and humanitarian programming. It is for this reason they have no input into day to day decision making on such matters. Their belief that they do is a prime example of their hubris.

In July 2010 the Tipperary Branch Chairman and national Vice Chairman, Tony Lawlor, did an interview with the Tipperary Nationalist newspaper where he stated categorically that the Tsunami Tipperary money had been spent. He also told the newspaper the money involved was €150,000. Upon reading this article Noel Wardick wrote a formal memo to the Acting Secretary General, Declan O’Sullivan, stating categorically that the money had NOT been spent and would not be spent until possibly late 2011 (this email was quoted liberally in the media following its leaking to the Sunday Times). The fact of the money being unspent has now been borne out in the internal report. The Wardick memo, according to the Sunday Times, also questioned why Mr. Lawlor was quoting a figure of €150,000 to the media when he knew full well the true figure was €162,000. There is no evidence from the internal report that the internal investigators raised this critical issue with Mr. Lawlor. Why is this and why did Mr. Lawlor give inaccurate information to the media? Within days of the Tipperary Nationalist interview the Irish Red Cross were forced to admit the amount involved was in fact €162,000 and that it had yet to be spent. This caused more damage to the reputation of the Irish Red Cross and no doubt confidence in the integrity of the Irish Red Cross was beginning to decline as a result of these conflicting statements and u-turns.

The internal report says “their explanation (Tipp branch) of the delay in the context of the five year plan for the expenditure of the monies is understandable....”

Had the internal investigators interviewed Carmel Dunne, former Secretary General until 2007 and Noel Wardick, former Head of International until late 2010, the above statement would likely not have been included. Officers in the Tipperary branch flagrantly broke the rules and policies of the Irish Red Cross. They failed to report or transfer money which they had no entitlement to retain for nearly four years. The Chairman of the Tipperary Branch broke, over a number of years, the very rules he as national Vice Chairman is responsible for overseeing and implementing nationally. It is not a matter for branch officers to decide when overseas money will be spent. It is a matter for the Head of the International Department in conjunction with the Secretary General (with final endorsement by Executive although Executive has no role in day to day decisions on such matters). The Tipperary branch had no authority to do what they did and as such the comment that “it was understandable” has no validity. In fact such statements implicitly endorse the unacceptable practice of blatantly and knowingly breaching organisational policy and procedure.

The internal report stated “The fact that no returns were submitted to IRC HQ by Tipperary branch for 2005 and 2006 is in our view a more serious governance issue for the IRC HQ than the late transfer of the Tsunami monies. This is compounded in our view by the fact that the submitted 2007 late returns from Tipperary branch did not feature the Tsunami account”

The above statement is very welcome. It was widely known within the Irish Red Cross that the Tipperary branch was a repeat offender in breaching organisation finance policy regarding branch accounts and submissions to head office. The matter was continually swept under the carpet and not dealt with for one reason and one reason only. The Chairman of the Tipperary branch is also the Vice Chairman of the whole Society and would be acknowledged as the ‘person who runs and controls the Irish Red Cross’. Such critically important findings as stated above must be acted upon and those responsible held accountable. Without concerted action being done and being seen to be done statements such as above will be consigned to meaningless words on paper.

In referencing a press release issued by head office concerning the Tipperary bank account the internal report says “While the press release did not identify whose error it was it did implicate the Tipperary Branch by using the phrase the “account remained there untouched". The statement could have been worded differently acknowledging the error on both sides but the reviewers feel given the publicity involved it was not an unfair press release”.

It is encouraging to see the internal report state “it was not an unfair press release”. It is, however, worrying in the extreme that the internal report would also say “acknowledging the error on both sides”. This is classic ‘internal report’ writing at its best..... compromise to keep everybody happy particularly those who are powerful, do not blame any individual, blame systems and procedures not people and hold no-one to account. The simple matter of fact in relation to this case is that there is NO error on BOTH sides. There is error on ONE side and ONE side only. A number of Tipperary branch officers took ‘the law into their own hands’ so to speak, flagrantly breached organisational policy and procedure and failed to transfer money to IRC HQ that they had no entitlement to hold until they were caught following a secret internal audit. Other weaknesses within the head office finance department contributed in no shape or form to this unilateral act by certain Tipperary branch officers.

Recommendations

This Blog understands that Tony Lawlor was/is the Chairman of the Tipperary Branch and his sister was the Treasurer of the Tipperary Branch. The internal report does not clarify whether a brother and sister were both signatories on the Tipperary Tsunami bank account. All good organisational practice should have very explicit policies preventing any number of ‘conflict of interest’ situations arising. One such policy is to avoid ‘blood relation’ conflicts of interest. In non family businesses and voluntary organisations it would be standard protocol not to allow blood relations be bank/cheque signatories on the same accounts. Does the Irish Red Cross have policies in this regard and if so were they adhered to?

The internal report falls very short in another key area. It provides no commentary on the total failure of those in charge in 2008, when the undeclared account was discovered, to formally investigate and report on the matter. Central Council, the supreme governing authority of the Irish Red Cross, was not informed at the time. Most Central Council members and many Executive Committee members first became aware of the matter following media reports in late 2009 and then from updates on the Blog. One of the reasons Jennifer Bulbulia, former Central Council member and Honorary Secretary of the Society, resigned was the organisations’ failure to have the Tipperary bank account investigated. It seems the internal report has demurred entirely from allocating blame to all those responsible for this sorry saga, first and foremost those who committed the wrongs (Tipperary branch officers) and secondly those who failed to investigate them. As such the report's credibility is dramatically reduced.

There are, however, a number of welcome recommendations in the internal report which need to be robustly acted upon. One statement in the Recommendations section however must be challenged and its goes to the heart of the internal report. That is the attempt to link certain weaknesses in the IRC head office finance and administration department (which were solely caused by the Executive Committee’s failure to allow various Secretaries General resource it) to the actions of certain Tipperary branch officers. This link is at best a serious error of judgement on the part of the internal investigators and at worst an attempt to protect certain Tipperary branch officers. The Tipperary branch officers involved in the tsunami account acted unilaterally, without permission, of their own volition and in blatant breach of organisational procedure which they were fully aware of. They must be held accountable for this. Head office staff or any weaknesses in head office played no hand, act or part in the decision taken by Tipperary branch officers to intentionally withhold public money collected for an overseas appeal and to not declare its existence to IRC HQ. In failing to explicitly acknowledge this the internal report, which is strong in parts, has been substantially compromised. This, unfortunately, is the nature of internal reports. It is the Blog’s belief that these serious shortcomings would not have occurred had independent investigators carried out the review.

This formal response to IRC's internal report will conclude by saying that despite the very obvious deficiencies of the report it has highlighted numerous unacceptable practices that many of us have campaigned long and hard for change on. Some of us have even been fired for trying to highlight these. The recognition of these practices as wrong is very welcome and the internal investigators should be commended for that. Had the Blog not existed, however, and had the media not got behind the campaign for reform of the Irish Red Cross one thing can be certain. No investigation, whether internal or independent, would ever have taken place. The next step now is accountability. All eyes will be on the Irish Red Cross to see how it responds. Let’s hope it meets the challenge bravely and courageously. Failure to do so will bring more reputational damage and confirm that real and genuine reform is not nor has it ever been on the agenda.

"Serious deficiencies in our accounting procedures"-Irish Red Cross Chairman, 11th December 2010

The Irish Red Cross Central Council met on 11th December 2010. Two highly respected and committed life members of the Irish Red Cross exercised their right to protest and demonstrated outside the meeting, held in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin. Mary Cullivan, a former long serving finance officer at Irish Red Cross headquarters and Gerard Moyne, a former member of Irish Red Cross governance structures, called on the Irish Red Cross to implement the recommendations of Transparency International which seeks an independent investigation into the operations of the Society and the reinstatement of Noel Wardick pending the results of such an investigation. Mr. Moyne and Ms. Cullivan also called on the Irish Red Cross to bring in long over due deep rooted fundamental reform of its governance structures.

The Transparency International statement is available on the link below:

http://www.transparency.ie/news_events/open_letter_irish_red_cross.htm

During the Central Council meeting a damning internal report into the Tipperary Bank account saga was issued. A comprehensive blog article will be posted on this in due course.

The Irish Times, 13th December 2010, carries a report on the failure of the IRC Tipperary branch to return funds, collected for the Tsunami, to the Irish Red Cross head office for nearly four years. The Chairman of the Irish Red Cross, David O' Callaghan, admitted "serious deficiencies in our accounting procedures". The link is:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1213/1224285405083.html

The Sunday Independent (12th December 2010) carries a large article on the highly critical findings contained in the report. The headline reads "Tsunami funds lay idle in bank for three years-Errors at Red Cross left €162,000 untouched". It should be noted that the report is only carried in the 'city final' edition of the Sunday Independent as the story broke late on 11th December. The link to this article is:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tsunami-funds-lay-idle-in-bank-for-three-years-2457820.html

In addition both the Irish Times and RTE (national broadcaster) carried reports of the findings late on the evening of 11th December.

The Irish Times report leads with "Report critical of Red Cross" and is available on:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1211/breaking22.html

The RTE report is available on:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1211/redcross.html

As mentioned above a detailed blog article will be written on the findings of the report. It can only be hoped that those responsible for the blatant failures identified in the report will do the honourable thing and resign immediately. Surely their positions are now untenable? The report's importance will be severely diminished if no-one is held accountable.

Finally it was also confirmed at the Central Council meeting that the Irish Red Cross has reversed its decision to continue legal action against Google Inc. Central Council members were informed the Irish Red Cross has decided not to sue Google for the names and IP addresses of all people who posted comments on the Blog. This is a significant victory for all those who believe in and campaign for free speech. It also prevents any further embarassment for the Irish Red Cross on the matter. This blog welcomes the decision and is relieved to see that on occasion common sense can still prevail at the Iirsh Red Cross.