GOAL funding under threat following audit
Aengus Fanning Funeral...20/01/12 John O'Shea of Goal pictured this morning at the Funeral of former Sunday Independent editor, Aengus Fanning at St. Joseph's Church, Glasthule, Dublin.... Picture Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.
THE Government has threatened to withdraw state support for the charity GOAL unless it addresses corporate governance concerns.
Irish Aid has indicated that future funding depends on GOAL implementing a series of recommendations contained in an audit carried out last year.
'Irish Aid expects that we will continue to support the work of Goal, contingent upon the implementation of the recommendations contained in the audit report,' the agency said in a statement.
It also emerged yesterday that GOAL founder John O'Shea has some health concerns and a "plan of succession" is being put in place.
And further details have also been revealed about the controversial departure of the charity's former chairman Ken Fogarty.
Mr Fogarty submitted his resignation following what he described as a "planned, shocking, insulting, threatening and grossly offensive" verbal outburst by Mr O'Shea.
The charity's new chairman Pat O'Mahony defended Mr O'Shea, calling him a "passionate individual" who has since apologised for the outburst.
GOAL received €16.8m from Irish Aid in 2010 -- the most recent year for which the charity's accounts are available.
The sum represents GOAL's single largest source of funding.
But last year's audit raised a series of issues that GOAL must address to qualify for further funding from Irish Aid.
The audit stated that there was concern about the "uncertainty over the effective exercise of higher-level oversight of management systems and personnel". GOAL has seen three different chairmen in the space of a year and paid two unnamed employees more than €100,000 in 2010.
Departure
Yesterday, an ally of Mr Fogarty -- ex-GOAL director Fran Rooney -- said in the lead up to Mr Fogarty's departure that the GOAL board attempted to establish a remuneration committee to examine the salaries of the organisation's top officials.
Mr Rooney, a former chief executive of the FAI, was brought on to the board of the agency by Mr Fogarty last year but both resigned within months.
"There was no remuneration committee in GOAL, we attempted to set one up and let's say there was not support for this," Mr Rooney told RTE Radio One's 'This Week' programme.
He cited a finance committee, which reported directly to Mr O'Shea and not to the board, as one example of the deficient corporate governance that he claimed existed in GOAL.
But Mr O'Mahony, insisted that corporate governance issues were being tackled at the organisation.
Mr O'Mahony said nobody in the charity was now being paid more than €100,000.
"John O'Shea's salary is less than €100,000," Mr O'Mahony said. "I only joined the board in December so I am only concerned about now, I can't deal with issues that were the responsibilities of other chairmen."
He also stressed that GOAL has addressed "or is in the process of addressing" the recommendations of the audit.
- Kevin Keane
Irish Independent
