Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Irish Red Cross vs Blogger

Options
  • 30-08-2010 3:14pm
    #1
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Has anyone clued into this????

    Noel Wardick, who is Head of International Department has been writing an anonymous blog detailing mismanagement and lack of governance here:

    http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/

    The more you dig into this the more it utterly STINKS.

    Prime Time did a piece on it last night (you can watch it here: http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1079280)


    Now, here's a twist. I grew up for most of my childhood and early adulthood with Noel Wardick.

    I cannot, hand on heart, think of a more upstanding, honest person. Noel is painfully honest and lives his life straight down the line. It doesnt surprise me that he would blow the whistle where he felt things were awry.

    This begins to get "Father Ted"esque, when they get to the bit about 150K "sitting in an account in Tipperary". Noel has blown the whistle on this typically Irish mess (the sec gen gets paid 160k a year and they have been running at a deficit for those years?! Remind you of anyone?). Because he's got balls to call things as they are, Noel has been suspended from his position. Watch that Prime Time and tell me the entire thing doesnt STINK.


    This is Noel, in the "field" in Niger, working with people. Watch it and tell me that he's a malcontent or a trouble maker... As long as I've known him Noel has helped other people, since we were 7.
    This is an honest whistleblower and the very kind of person we NEED DESPERATELY in this country and he's now suspended and being sued.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7bOxn3C23Y



    I'm so angry about this I dont know what to do.



    DeV.


«134567

Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    We do need some kind of whistleblower's charter with proper legal protection here. For this case, though, I can't imagine anything other than a public campaign will work - leave aside any judgement on whether what Noel is saying is factually correct, but just say what you've said above - here he is, this is the kind of guy he is, this is what's happening. The Irish Red Cross would not be comfortable with such a campaign in the run-up to Christmas - and if their handling of funds really is as bad as claimed, such a campaign will hopefully cure more than it harms in the longer run.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


  • Options
    #3
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    I'm trying to contact him now, we lost touch when he moved to live in Africa as an aid worker. I mean, the guy is a qualified chartered accountant, could be creaming it here and instead he went to work as an aid worker and foreign liason etc.

    The prime time thing made me sick. The minister ducked the issue more then Mike Tyson ducked punches. Typical abandonment of responsibility.

    The woman from the IRC looked EXTREMELY uncomfortable saying some of the things she had been "briefed" to say (by her own admission) and the chairman wouldnt talk to RTE??! WTF?

    I'm so depressed about the state of Ireland and this is just so typical. There are "financial irregularities" in a major Irish charity and the only bloke who is willing to stand up and say "something is rotten in the state of Denmark".... is getting hung out to dry by the cronies.

    DeV.


  • Options
    #4
    Permabear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 39,022 ✭✭✭✭Permabear


    This post has been deleted.


  • Options
    #5
    LostinBlanch
    Registered Users Posts: 2,908 ✭✭✭LostinBlanch


    DeVore wrote: »
    The woman from the IRC looked EXTREMELY uncomfortable saying some of the things she had been "briefed" to say (by her own admission) and the chairman wouldnt talk to RTE??! WTF?

    I saw the primetime interview with that Red Cross woman, and she came accross very badly. Especially that bit when she was asked why the chief executive wasn't available for interview. I'm paraphrasing the interview from memory but the dodgiest bit for me went something like this.

    RTE: "Where is the chief executive?"
    Her: "He's on holiday."
    RTE: "But he's in the office."
    Her: "He was on holiday until yesterday."
    RTE: "But he's in the office now."
    Her: "He was on holiday until yesterday."

    Now it sounds like she was bounced into it by the powers that be in the Red Cross. I was also very concerned to hear about the Tsunami money that was off in an account in Tipperary instead of being spent helping the victims.

    Noel Wardick came across very well, especially when he was talking about the waste that was going on regarding the Pakistan earthquake when he was instructed to purchase blankets in Ireland at €12 each and spend an extra €30,000 on transporting them to Pakistan instead of purchasing them locally at €3 each as the International Red Cross recommended. I'm sure the more cynical may find themselves wondering were there any links between the Red Cross and whoever ended supplying the blankets here. If there were that would be a major concern.


  • Options
    #6
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    Thats another thing I was wondering about too....

    DeV.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    Noel Wardick came across very well, especially when he was talking about the waste that was going on regarding the Pakistan earthquake when he was instructed to purchase blankets in Ireland at €12 each and spend an extra €30,000 on transporting them to Pakistan instead of purchasing them locally at €3 each as the International Red Cross recommended. I'm sure the more cynical may find themselves wondering were there any links between the Red Cross and whoever ended supplying the blankets here.

    It is also possible that the Irish Red Cross just made a decision to spend money in Ireland. That's not really their mandate, though.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


  • Options
    #8
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    At 4 times the cost plus 30K shipping, its a very poor decision if so. Its poor enough to question the capabilities of the person responsible.

    It seems that "questioning" gets you suspended there. Not a healthy climate for any company.... and a truely AWFUL one for a charity!

    DeV.


  • Options
    #9
    jmayo
    Registered Users Posts: 13,147 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    The Irish Red Cross has been a disaster for years and it appears that there has been a clique in there dictating how things are done.

    They have had an imminent board/council members resign after stating that any negative comments have been removed from minutes of meetings, there was a revolt in 1999 by staff, there have been numerous chieft executives coming and quickly going.

    What we got out of last weeks program was that one decent guy has had enough and started spilling the beans and when the powers that be found out they suspend him and are probably going to shaft him.

    The other thing that came out of the program is that no one should give them a penny, as they would rather waste money by buying blankets in Ireland than cheaper in Pakistan and would rather leave the money sitting in a bank account in Tipperary than help those it was raised for.

    We had the standard waffle from the Red Cross spokeswoman that they were implementing changes over the last 5 or ten years.
    How f***ing long does it take ?

    We had the minister who proivides over a million euro in funds to the body, appoints board members, chairperson, etc claiming it is nothing to do with him and it is upto the International Red Cross.
    Of course that is par for the course where our ministers and top officals wash their hands of things and meekly just carry on.

    Just remove all state funding as of now and demand that they clean up the system by starting with full independent enquiry.
    Also remove the jobs for the boys by limiting time a person can stay on any of the boards/councils.


  • Options
    #10
    Diom
    Registered Users Posts: 438 ✭✭Diom


    Scofflaw wrote: »
    It is also possible that the Irish Red Cross just made a decision to spend money in Ireland. That's not really their mandate, though.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw

    Of course it is possible, in fact that was what I assumed would be the case when I heard that fact. It should be investigated though, as if there is any connection then it is a horrible mis-use of funds.
    Even if it is the more innocent explanation of trying to prop up their local economy, it is case of mis-use of funds. They have to try to put their funds to the best use to help the people that they purport to be helping.


  • Options
    #11
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    jmayo wrote: »
    The Irish Red Cross has been a disaster for years and it appears that there has been a clique in there dictating how things are done.

    They have had an imminent board/council members resign after stating that any negative comments have been removed from minutes of meetings, there was a revolt in 1999 by staff, there have been numerous chieft executives coming and quickly going.

    What we got out of last weeks program was that one decent guy has had enough and started spilling the beans and when the powers that be found out they suspend him and are probably going to shaft him.

    The other thing that came out of the program is that no one should give them a penny, as they would rather waste money by buying blankets in Ireland than cheaper in Pakistan and would rather leave the money sitting in a bank account in Tipperary than help those it was raised for.

    We had the standard waffle from the Red Cross spokeswoman that they were implementing changes over the last 5 or ten years.
    How f***ing long does it take ?

    We had the minister who proivides over a million euro in funds to the body, appoints board members, chairperson, etc claiming it is nothing to do with him and it is upto the International Red Cross.
    Of course that is par for the course where our ministers and top officals wash their hands of things and meekly just carry on.

    Just remove all state funding as of now and demand that they clean up the system by starting with full independent enquiry.
    Also remove the jobs for the boys by limiting time a person can stay on any of the boards/councils.

    Some background material:

    http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/2010/08/sunday-times-1st-august-2010-carries.html

    http://www.thepost.ie/story/ojauqlojau/

    http://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2009-06-23.115.0

    http://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2010-01-20.446.0

    I see the government appoints 14 members, but is "precluded from becoming involved in the internal day-to-day running of the organisation".

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    Diom wrote: »
    Of course it is possible, in fact that was what I assumed would be the case when I heard that fact. It should be investigated though, as if there is any connection then it is a horrible mis-use of funds.
    Even if it is the more innocent explanation of trying to prop up their local economy, it is case of mis-use of funds. They have to try to put their funds to the best use to help the people that they purport to be helping.

    I'd agree entirely - and if such a decision was the result of any political pressure from the government, then the government is not respecting the independence of the Red Cross. It's not necessary for there to be a corrupt connection for it to be an issues.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


  • Options
    #13
    jmayo
    Registered Users Posts: 13,147 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    Scofflaw wrote: »
    It is also possible that the Irish Red Cross just made a decision to spend money in Ireland. That's not really their mandate, though.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw

    An optimistic view that perhaps they believe in buying Irish ehh ?
    Scofflaw wrote: »
    Some background material:

    http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/2010/08/sunday-times-1st-august-2010-carries.html

    http://www.thepost.ie/story/ojauqlojau/

    http://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2009-06-23.115.0

    http://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2010-01-20.446.0

    I see the government appoints 14 members, but is "precluded from becoming involved in the internal day-to-day running of the organisation".

    cordially,
    Scofflaw

    Yes I am aware that there are meant to be autonomous statutorily independent free from political interference and the International Red Cross view this as being very important.
    But as jimmy Denihan asked in one of those debates, doesn't it concern the minister (willie o'dea in that case) that the irish Red Cross is poorly run and yet getting over 1 milion in state funds.

    Here is interesting question.
    Is there anything in the statutes that prohibits the minister from withdrawing funding at his discretion ?

    That way the minister could indeed put pressure on them to clean up their act.

    Of course once again, state funds can be wasted, by some organisation that is outside the ministers control.

    In this case of course the Red Cross would not be seen as some johnny come lately quangoe.


  • Options
    #14
    Nodin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 46,938 ✭✭✭✭Nodin


    It doesn't seem to have sufficiently concerned any minister to the extent that they did anything. Vague noises and thats about it.


  • Options
    #15
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    jmayo wrote: »
    An optimistic view that perhaps they believe in buying Irish ehh ?



    Yes I am aware that there are meant to be autonomous statutorily independent free from political interference and the International Red Cross view this as being very important.
    But as jimmy Denihan asked in one of those debates, doesn't it concern the minister (willie o'dea in that case) that the irish Red Cross is poorly run and yet getting over 1 milion in state funds.

    Here is interesting question.
    Is there anything in the statutes that prohibits the minister from withdrawing funding at his discretion ?

    That way the minister could indeed put pressure on them to clean up their act.

    Of course once again, state funds can be wasted, by some organisation that is outside the ministers control.

    In this case of course the Red Cross would not be seen as some johnny come lately quangoe.

    The more I look at it, the more "day-to-day running" is a piece of obvious weaselling. The powers of the Minister in respect of the Red Cross are not small:
    (2) The Government may by the establishment order make provision in relation to all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—


    ( a ) the powers of the Society;


    ( b ) the organization of the Society;


    ( c ) the management and administration of the affairs of the Society by a governing body;


    ( d ) the delegation to such governing body of the power to make rules for the Society;


    ( e ) the holding of annual and other meetings of the Society;


    ( f ) the finances and accounts of the Society;


    ( g ) any other matters in relation to the Society in respect of which it appears to the Government desirable and proper that provision should be made.


    (3) The Government may, whenever and so often as they think fit, by order under this sub-section amend (whether by addition, omission, or variation) the establishment order or any order under this sub-section.

    http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1938/en/act/pub/0032/print.html

    Nor does having a third of the board members and the chairman as political appointees instil any confidence that there is no political interference. It would certainly not be in any sense unusual for the Irish branch of an international body to have been captured by the local political class.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


  • Options
    #16
    Nehaxak
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,717 ✭✭✭Nehaxak


    DeVore wrote: »
    Now, here's a twist. I grew up for most of my childhood and early adulthood with Noel Wardick.

    I cannot, hand on heart, think of a more upstanding, honest person. Noel is painfully honest and lives his life straight down the line. It doesnt surprise me that he would blow the whistle where he felt things were awry.

    I worked with Noel myself in Ethiopia a good numbers of years back, when he was with another NGO, top bloke, nice guy, hard working and a kind heart - that and we enjoyed our fresh pints in Fukaroo's after work when they ever managed to get a keg in :D

    Fair play to him imo.


  • Options
    #17
    Earthhorse
    Registered Users Posts: 14,714 ✭✭✭✭Earthhorse


    DeVore wrote: »
    Prime Time did a piece on it last night (you can watch it here: http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1079280)

    An interesting, and worrying, report. Unfortunately, it does not surprise me one bit. And given that these problems appear to have been going on for over two decades without redress I would not hold out much hope for reform. Your friend was very brave to blow the whistle, it was morally the correct thing to do once he saw things were not going to change internally, but whistle-blowers are rarely thanked for taking action and I know of someone who was involved in a similar situation and did not win the good fight in the end.

    Let's hope it works out differently for your friend; in the meantime the Irish Red Cross won't be getting a red cent from me.


  • Options
    #18
    Sizzler
    Registered Users Posts: 5,430 ✭✭✭Sizzler


    Fair play to this chap. Makes you wonder how many other Irish charities are partaking in this sort of shennanigans, not every charity has a guy like Noel.


  • Options
    #19
    The_Minister
    Registered Users Posts: 10,255 ✭✭✭✭The_Minister


    Tbh, there are a few Irish charities that need investigating, but you tend to get your nose betten off if you question the goings on...


  • Options
    #20
    yoshytoshy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭yoshytoshy


    Nearly 200,000 euro lying in an account that nobody knew about and people left to die.

    Disgusting.


  • Options
    #21
    Nehaxak
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,717 ✭✭✭Nehaxak


    Hard thing to take though now is that his career in the NGO sector, at least in Irish NGO's, is probably now destroyed. He'd walk into a job in the UN or other non Irish NGO's but the wagons will be rounded up on this one for fear of public resentment spreading to other NGO's in Ireland. I would fear that would be the case anyway but Noel has plenty of options either way, there are plenty of other NGO's who would commend his actions.

    Whatever way this thread or similar goes, please remember that for the small amount (organisation wise) of obscenely overpaid, incompetent or what could be considered otherwise dodgy high end executives within NGO's in Ireland - there are a lot more genuine people working for them that put all of their heart, all their blood, sweat and tears into doing good for the people that really need it, and put all of that before even thinking about themselves or their own families. Regardless of how little they're paid compared to others higher up the chain of command within an organisation.

    I worked for an NGO here for a lot of my working life, I would have nothing but good to say about them but that's not to say they're without their small minor problems that could be improved upon if public opinion was strong enough to dictate (internal resistance has always persisted thus far).
    Maybe that's one of the things that will come out of all of this, more transparency with NGO's operating in Ireland, especially so in regards how much their staff are paid at higher levels, which in all honesty as I've said, can be obscene at times, especially given the times we live in.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #22
    Kristopherus
    Registered Users Posts: 11,907 ✭✭✭✭Kristopherus


    What irks me is that the Minister was so shambolic that he could'nt even state that the Irish Red Cross comes under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General and that he would be referring the whole issue to that office. That would have put the wind up the board, but, alas that does not appear to be happening any time soon. So it will, sadly, continue as is.


  • Options
    #23
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    What the hell can be done??

    I chatted with Noel this evening and he's in good spirits if a little shook up about things. He wants to highlight the issue without appearing like a media-ho about it.

    I'm seriously mad about this but I dont know what can be done... he has a "disciplinary hearing" this week (isnt that hilarious, by the sounds of it he's the only one in there who doesnt need "disciplining") so I dont know if I should go "making trouble" ahead of that or not but I'm not going to sit on my hands for sure...


    DeV.


  • Options
    #24
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    On a tangent from this: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056016355

    Turns out the Irish Red Cross sued Google to try and discover the identity of the blogger! (http://www.courts.ie/__80256FFF005DDD92.nsf/0/A31CD40C026BE4D9802577690046C42F?Open Case 96). Google donates 50,000 a year to the International Red Cross and 10,000 a year to the Irish Red Cross.... thats some way to treat them...

    More disturbing is that UPC handed over his identity (its not clear if there was a court order or not) and didnt bother to alert Noel that his ID was going to be handed over to a third party!

    Is that covered by the DPA??

    Thankfully Noel had decided that enough was enough and identified himself on the blog before that happened (http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/)

    This is astonishing, with all the "wikileaks" stuff going on, here we have our own little whistle blower calling time on "financial irregularities" and "poor governance" and he's suspended and faces a disciplinary tribunal.

    This rabbit hole just keeps on going....

    DeV.


  • Options
    #25
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    DeVore wrote: »
    What the hell can be done??

    I chatted with Noel this evening and he's in good spirits if a little shook up about things. He wants to highlight the issue without appearing like a media-ho about it.

    I'm seriously mad about this but I dont know what can be done... he has a "disciplinary hearing" this week (isnt that hilarious, by the sounds of it he's the only one in there who doesnt need "disciplining") so I dont know if I should go "making trouble" ahead of that or not but I'm not going to sit on my hands for sure...

    I doubt there's much that can be done between now and then to change the outcome of such a hearing for the better, and it's probably worth keeping your powder dry for the moment. You won't know what what's actually happening until after the hearing in any case.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


  • Options
    #26
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭Scofflaw


    DeVore wrote: »
    On a tangent from this: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056016355

    DeV.

    It's not really tangential enough to be a separate thread, though.

    moderately,
    Scofflaw


  • Options
    #27
    DeVore
    Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    Fair enough Scoffy, and in fairness to the mods here, I will rescind my admin status about this topic and will interact as a regular user. Its not fair otherwise.


    For years now I have had a twitter account (@DeVore) to see just how many people would follow it if I wrote nothing (87). This issue has made me come out of the woodwork and start to use it. I dont really tweet but now I will do whatever I can to bring this to people's attention and if you feel the same way and you have a twitter account... well, I have started a #ReformIRC on: http://twitter.com/DeVore

    I hear this "twiting" thing is all the rage with you young folk. :p

    DeV.


  • Options
    #28
    The_Minister
    Registered Users Posts: 10,255 ✭✭✭✭The_Minister


    Kristopherus wrote: »
    What irks me is that the Minister was so shambolic that he could'nt even state that the Irish Red Cross comes under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General and that he would be referring the whole issue to that office. That would have put the wind up the board, but, alas that does not appear to be happening any time soon. So it will, sadly, continue as is.

    :(


  • Options
    #29
    Meirleach
    Registered Users Posts: 242 ✭✭Meirleach


    DeVore wrote: »
    More disturbing is that UPC handed over his identity (its not clear if there was a court order or not) and didnt bother to alert Noel that his ID was going to be handed over to a third party!

    Eh, now that really worries me, would be interested in hearing more about that side of things.

    To my mind unless all of the IRC employees signed a NDA, what right would they have to seek his identity? Alas I'm not a legal expert.


  • Options
    #30
    donalgeraghty
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭donalgeraghty


    ya saw the prime time interview,hes a great man to do what he did.doesnt suprise me that its a government funded charity that is being badly managed,it wouldnt happen in Order of Malta or the likes who are not funded by the government at all,who do just as much good work as Red Cross internatioanlly.But are not aswell known Like the following: http://www.malteser.de
    Malteser international who are part of the Order of Malta.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #31
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    How does one stop payments to the red cross (monthly direct debits). I'll switch over to a different charity for now until this mess gets cleared up.

    edit: nevermind - I've found it - for anyone else interested in stopping the credit card payments go to RBS Worldpay and cancel your monthly agreement with the Irish Red Cross.

    Any suggestions of other charities that have an international focus?


Advertisement