Irish Red Cross vs Blogger

DeVore

So, let's do something. It migt not be much but if we can save even one whistleblower it might be a start.

Boards isn't political but I certainly am and i've a LOT of pretty powerful mates in low places .

Why don't we try to bring this to a head publically and see if we can't see if anything CAN be changed using the internet. It's realistically the only weapon we have.

I've been thinking about it, a funny viral campaign, something somewhat whimsical but with a serious point. Make Noels cause everyones cause, representing our anger with corruption and determination to save is one, last, honest Joe. or Noel.

I'm willing to drive it.

Noel++

"More Noels, Not Less."

DeV.

Nehaxak

It's worth noting (though not sure if it will have an impact on anything here) that it's common practice among NGO's in Ireland to hold back reserve funds, usually between 10 and 20+ million in the larger NGO/Charities, in case of any economic downturn or otherwise. The monies would typically be used to fund redundancy packages, both in home HQ countries (say Ireland, UK, US offices) and also exit strategies from countries in which they directly operate if they had to close the charity or cutback on any operations overseas in order for their staff and operations to survive in their home countries, like Ireland.

The monies for this practice would normally come from general donations but it's not unknown for monies to be claimed from each individual country budget to cover (or bulk up...) an overall reserve fund.

When or if you ever make a donation to a charity, be specific as and to what exact cause or country the donation is intended for - do NOT ever just make a general donation or your CANNOT be assured as and to what your donated money is used for - unless you're ok with the thought of your donated cash paying for overinflated CEO and senior manager wages, or for costs arising from ridiculous legal challenges against hosting providers like Google where a blog is being run on for example :rolleyes:

It would seem to me, after reading through and following this story intently since it all began, that the IRC is rife with corruption, malpractice, malgovernance and childish bullying along with financial irregularities that the public have been made aware of, that still have not been sufficiently explained - not to mention the high possibility there are other more damning irregularities waiting to be exposed (where there are small-ish ones like this of monies "resting" in accounts, you can bet there are/where or will be many more).

It's also worth observing the complete silence of other NGO/Charities in Ireland - as if to suggest a fear of having their own house put under the spotlight at all if they dared speak out. Where's Mr bigmouth from GOAL that's usually shouting out at the top of his voice when it suits him but goes all quiet when asked how much he gets paid ? Hmm...

Jonny7

These are dire times for Ireland, our corruption has reached critical mass

4chan have shown how powerful they can be just for the "lulz", sure they're mentioned in the news every other day

A large community like boards, whilst not being political, could be used for a common cause.

Anyway +1 for me, I would support, tired of reading this kinda crap and feeling helpless

Nehaxak

I'd support whatever you might intend to put forward as a campaign Dev but would prefer it not be for one person (Noel) but rather for the cause itself, maybe for the protection of whistleblowers or indeed for reform of the IRC and cessation of corruption within - you can quote the case of Noel of course.
He's a top guy and I've worked with him myself overseas but nobody is 100% squeaky clean, putting a campaign forward for a cause rather than a person would be more worthwhile, imho anyway.

gmoyne

Count me in ! and you can have the support of my family as well I also know lots of people in low places.. So lets cook this Turkey well and truly before xmas. The Central Council will meet next month lets see who these anonymous people are who have ruined the Red Cross. They deserve to be exposed and know that Noel is not a whistle blower he is courageous human being who tried without success to have the Irish Red Cross identify their failures.

If they think the term resting in our account will get them off the hook they have not seen what a bit of Northern spirit will do. Its time we used Noel as an example for all whistle blowers and stop the corruption that has eaten the goodness out of this country.

So you know how to contact me and I will be with you !

DeVore

Nehaxak wrote: »

I'd support whatever you might intend to put forward as a campaign Dev but would prefer it not be for one person (Noel) but rather for the cause itself, maybe for the protection of whistleblowers or indeed for reform of the IRC and cessation of corruption within - you can quote the case of Noel of course.
He's a top guy and I've worked with him myself overseas but nobody is 100% squeaky clean, putting a campaign forward for a cause rather than a person would be more worthwhile, imho anyway.

Thats true but people act for people, not causes. When charities collect for Africa they dont tell you about the systemic international debt issues, they tell you about poor little Milawi who wont live without a donation.

I do take your point though, and I agree there should be a whistleblowers charter. Perhaps we can use his case to springboard a campaign for all whistleblowers to be protected by law ABOVE contractual corporate agreements.

I'm really not sure how to go about this though... I'll give it some thought over the weekend...


DeV.

running nowhere

DeVore,
I have been following this issue on Boards and on Noel Wardick’s blog for some time now. As someone with a strong interest in the Irish Red Cross due to previous direct involvement and as an Irish taxpayer I strongly welcome these forums to raise such serious issues.
As someone who also knows Noel Wardick I can without doubt agree with your previous statement regarding Noel’s integrity and honesty in taking the course of action he has chosen.
It strikes me that this issue actually encompasses two important issues: (i) the Irish Red Cross and (ii) the protection of whistleblowers. In relation to (ii) please see an interesting piece in today’s Sunday Independent http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/why-do-we-hang-whistleblowers-out-to-dry-2401289.html
In terms of a campaign I suppose there could be two parallel campaigns which in themselves would each serve the others purpose. One could advocate for the introduction of legislation to protect whistleblowers (promised 8 years ago according to today’s SIndo). The case of Noel Wardick being a prime current example of the need for such legislation. The case of Eugene McErlean and Tony Spollen (AIB) referred to in the piece above is a prime example of how taking an honourable stance can result in vilification. The other campaign could specifically call for an investigation into the claims made by Noel Wardick. Of course it is not just Noel Wardick making these claims. The recent media attention (especially that prime time report) has served to summarise an apparently long and continuous series of worrying issues at the Irish Red Cross, long before Noel Wardick took his stance. The Irish Red Cross must be given the opportunity to address these claims as continually reiterated in Noel Wardick’s blog. However in the on-going vacuum of silence and inaction the Irish Red Cross (ruling elite) cannot expect the claims, suspicions, doubts and questions to go away. If anything the Red Cross response, in my mind, demonstrates that the person who is standing up to defend the very core principles of the Red Cross Movement is now facing a campaign by the very same organisation to destroy him for taking that stance. Is this acceptable? The Board of the Irish Red Cross appear to think so.
A campaign of “More Noels not Less” should be about more than any one person. However in advocating for transparency , corporate morals and good corporate governance in publically funded organisations it will ensure that the brave stances taken by Noel Wardick and others are not in vain.
Your continued interest and thoughts on this matter are most welcome.
Regards,
RN.

gmoyne

When I and others tried a decade ago to have the Red Cross Executive exposed for their true arrogance and absolute disregard for the membership and staff we were unfortunate not to have the access to a forum such as the Blog and Boards. Even now I feel that this is a lost cause as they still don't give a toss what evidence we have that proves that the Red Cross retained monies in accounts, that they bullied staff and members. That they abused their positions of trust. The proof is in the inactivity to address the media coverage and to even defend themselves from the barrage of bad press.

Instead they will do what they have always done and that is nothing! They rest in the hope that we will all just go away and they can keep spending our money given to them from us the tax payer.

However, in these tough times I think that the Government especially the Minister should take their heads out of the sand and walk into Merrion Square and talk to the staff especially the senior staff and get a true picture of what has been happening for years.

There are so many wonderful people working for the Red Cross and they do invaluable work , but the current management at all levels will be held accountable for this disgraceful abhorrent behavior.

Noel Wardick shall have his day and he will delight no doubt in seeing the Executive held accountable,

Executive resign now and do all of us a favour !

Nehaxak

DeVore wrote: »

Thats true but people act for people, not causes. When charities collect for Africa they dont tell you about the systemic international debt issues, they tell you about poor little Milawi who wont live without a donation.

Not really Dev, the overarching causes or plights being campaigned are for a country and it's people going through whatever it is that's happening.
Badly run fundraising departments in an NGO will push an emaciated child with flies on their face or whatever to pull at peoples heart strings but there is a code of conduct for charities in Ireland that they should be adhering too, it's a desperate measure if they have to revert to bad old times and ignore that code - which is what a lot unfortunately are doing over the last 2 years or so.

I do take your point though, and I agree there should be a whistleblowers charter. Perhaps we can use his case to springboard a campaign for all whistleblowers to be protected by law ABOVE contractual corporate agreements.

I'll send you a PM to explain some of my point better as I don't want it public but you could use Noel's own ongoing plight/case as a point of reference - maybe he might even get involved himself.

I still think he has options, albeit they'll be stressful on him and wear him away but he will have a case for the labour courts if he is dismissed along with possibilities of following on from that with the European courts if absolutely required. Far as I see what the IRC are doing to him, it's just time wasting, following procedures to cover their own arses and to portray him in a bad light in any way they can, standard round the wagons and wear the opponent down - probably something about it in Sun Tzu's Art of War I'm sure.
However, their ineptitude and inability to even grasp the severity of what they themselves have done to damage the IRC is mind boggling.

There should be a proper charter enshrined in law to protect whistleblowers, if there had been, Noel would've had proper protections and support from the state itself to make sure what he said was properly acted upon rather than him being demonised and his career more or less destroyed.

Yitzhak Rabin

I've written to all my local TDs about it. I know at least 3 different ones have brought it to the ministers attention for me.

I've also been hounding the opposition Defence spokespeople about it.

In addition I have sent the following letter to most of the national papers:

Protecting our Whistleblowers

Recently the case of Noel Wardick the head of International development at the Irish Red Cross (IRC) has come to my attention. Mr. Wardick risked his livelihood and distinguished career to expose the incompetence, malgovernance and general poor standards of the executive of the IRC. He exposed some serious breaches in coporate governance standards, including €162,000 which was collected in 2005 under the auspice of helping the victims of the Asian tsunami, which lay dormant in an undeclared account in Tipperary until it was exposed in a secret audit in 2008. Many other serious, and damning exposures of incompetence and shameful coverups can be viewed on his blog.

What concerns me most about this case is not the poor governance standards of the IRC, it is the way in which Mr Wardick has been treated in the fallout of the scandals. He has been essentially hung out to dry. He has been the subject of a disciplinary hearing which will most likely result in his dismissal in the coming days. The worst part, is the disciplinary hearing is being chaired by the very people he accused of poor governance.

For me this individual case is a microcosm of all that is wrong with Irish society. Those that speak out of turn and raise difficult issues are seen as troublemakers. It seems it is far more important for an organisation to save face, than to face up to their problems. Noel Wardick is just the most recent in a shameful litany of whistleblowers who have been discredited for doing the right thing. It is time our government introduced legislation protecting whistleblowers promised during the fallout of the AIB DIRT scandal. I also call on the Minister for Defence Tony Killeen to intervene in the case of Noel Wardick, as he has both the power to do so, and good reason given the 1 million euro in taxpayers money given to the IRC annually.

In the difficult times we face ahead, where we are endevouring to cut waste and malpractice, we need more Noel Wardicks who do not fear demonisation and dismissal for doing the right thing.

Yours faithfully,

Perhaps, as a starting point to any action you plan DeV would be to compose something like the above calling for protection for whistleblowers, and use Noel's case to highlight it. Then together we could try and get people of influence to sign the letter and once we have enough influential people on board, get the letter out to all the media sources we can.

gmoyne

As a life long member of the Irish Red Cross what has concerned me most over the years is the arrogance of some of the individuals involved in the Executive Committee and the paralysis that they have caused on the members of the Central Council who unfortunately appoint them year after year.

The current situation highlights the inability of Central Council to control the Society and manage the needs of the organisation. The Minister of Sate Mr Kileen has suggested many times that he has no power to interfere yet he appears to be unaware that he directly controls one or more members of the Executive so indirectly has voting power on this committee. So the Minister through his agent decided not to have an investigation into the Society. Why would the Minister appoint a former Secretary general of the Department of Defense if he was not looking to control the goings on within the Red Cross.

Perhaps there are political implications to the exposure of some of the events that took place past and present within the walls of Merrion Square. The Government continually say they have no wish to interfere, but the question must be asked how many members of the management of Red Cross are affiliated to political parties. There have been suggestions of involvement within Red Cross of a Masonic order I believe this to be a political party or worse two political parties.

Della Digby

Does anyone know if the Irish Red Cross ever get around to having a national Conference ?

Do they hold conferences on the importance of respect for ones fellow humans or is it as I suspect they are so busy kissing each others ass at the top they don't have time to do the real work of humanitarians !

This Forum and the Blog has been an awakening to the world of what can happen in a National Society when individuals take over it. I have heard that there are over 30 thousand people currently reading the Blog what a day this is when we can finally get the small mans voice beyond the confines of the local media... !

I know that many hundreds are currently reading the Blog in the US and it is a great source of amusement and a learning to students of how a once humanitarian organisation can loose itself. There is great global interest in the way Ireland is dealing with the issue of whistle blowers, although I believe that this term does not rightly or adequately show the strength of the individuals who have taken great risks to expose tyranny !

gmoyne

The Irish Red Cross remains silent amidst a growing campaign to have it's board of management dismissed and held accountable for years of negligible governance and other issues relating to the abuse of donors trust and retention of money meant for emergency appeals. Of course the Society has for decades insured that not all the money handed over for appeals does not go where it is supposed to go, the question of monies lying for years in banks has risen to the fore a number of times.

The Executive Committee dismissed Noel Wardick pending an investigation into his allegations against the Executive Committee, this committee then charged two of its members with the duty of investigating Mr Wardicks claims, did this happen? Well,l we know they found him guilty of gross misconduct, my question what did they find in relation to the investigation of Mr Wardicks claims?

I would presume at this stage that they did what other members of the board did in the past, ignored any claims of misconduct on their part and bring Mr Wardick before them to find him guilty. Of course the cost to the Society is not relevant as it comes out of donors pockets.

Of course the board of the Irish Red Cross has not denied that it is guilty of retaining money other than through it's PR representative, who made a statement to deny all. Mr C xx said that those that say such things are telling "lies and fabrications" of course when there was a suggestion that the fabrication could be proved to be true the PR representative quickly retracted his tongue which he was walking on.

The Red Cross needs to be saved and I'm not sure if it's worth saving given the kind of management that it currently has. It has a Secretary general who refuses to reply to members letters and a Chairman who has seemingly gone AWOL as he has not made himself known to the membership as yet!

If Mr Wardick is guilty of gross misconduct why has he not been sacked? what is it they are afraid of? The membership are so interested in the whole debacle that they remain silent. They are failing to protect this organisation that many of them are adamant is innocent of any wrong doing, they know this to be true as they have been told this by the Executive Committee members.

If they want your opinion they will give it to you !

smiles302

From the FG reinventing government thing.

We will put in place a Whistleblowers Act to protect public servants that
expose maladministration by Ministers or others, and restore Freedom of
Information.

pg 11 > http://www.finegael.ie/upload/ReinventingGovernment.pdf

That's a move in the right direction

gmoyne

Let us go back 20 years or even 10 years all parties were aware that thee were serious issues relating to both Governance and accountability of monies given to be managed by the Executive Committee of the Irish Red Cross. Staff highlighted their concerns members highlighted their concerns. The staff even took to the streets and were interviewed by RTE.

One could be mistaken in the hope that change can be brought about with promises, but if the Fine Gael and other parties have not acted to date is there any hope that they might act in the future. They can start by stopping listening to the fairy tales being produced by the Minister. "Boo hoo, I cannot do anything", well lets just get the story right the Minister has a full vote and more on the Executive through his personally appointed representative.

So if the Minister suggests he cannot do anything well he is telling porkies !

A full year has passed since this issue has come to the fore and 20 years since the issue was first raised and more than a decade since the staff walked out. So if Fine Gael or any party want to act, ask the questions, the real questions. get the answers now don't tell us what you will do if only you can get into power.

This Government is like owning a smallpox infested blanket and all the other political parties desperately wanting to inherit it, the Fianna Fail party contaminated it, let them keep it ! Lets just see what they do with the mess they are responsible for and that includes the mess which is the Irish Red Cross. A Society which is answerable it appears to no one not even its members.

Keep the faith Mr Wardick you know you are right! and so do I. The people that castigate us can sit on their hands as they have always and enjoy themselves !

DeVore

Noel has been fired. He can appeal it (to the same people).

This.... stinks. Need to consider what to do now....

DeV.

running nowhere

Yes I heard this today. It was inevitable that Noel was fired. This is just another blow that the small group of power hungry rulers in the Irish Red Cross have dealt the organisation. However the old system of bullying, hostility and silence is for another era, and has no place in this day and age. The Irish Red Cross elite represent everything that is and has been wrong with this country. Noel's stance had kept the pressure on the board, cracks have been there for a long time. They have been painting over the cracks now for years, but the dam will burst very soon. Noel was dealt a blow today, but I know he is not down, the net is closing in on those who have attempted to destroy the Irish Red Cross, they will be held accountable.
I hope this is a watershed for the Irish Red Cross, both it and Noel deserve so much better.

david75

I'm thinking of taking part in their trek to Peru..should I not do it because of all this? are they upfront?

gmoyne

Well, there is one thing to do and that is now forward an email to every National Society Globally with details of the treatment of Noel Wardick and also details of the goings on over the last 20 years. I am sure no that now Noel is free he will be able to formulate a synopsis of his experiences and I am more than willing now to release the documents that I have, which have never been brought out into the public domain. Lets see if these seagulls can swallow what they are about to receive in bad press. Name the management and expose them as individuals will be a good start ! There are easy ways of setting up a web site which they will have absolutely no way of finding out who is running it. Not that I am suggesting for one minute that such an act should be entertained, but if someone knew someone in outer Mongolia, do drop them an email !

If you want to sink a boat there is no point in throwing peanuts at it you have to hit it square broadside with one good Torpedo.

gmoyne

david75 wrote: »

I'm thinking of taking part in their trek to Peru..should I not do it because of all this? are they upfront?

Are you joking about the Irish Red Cross being up front are you for real? They will take you shake you and when they are finished you will be able to read about yourself on the Blog. So lets just say as a life member I wouldn't take a train to Dundalk for the Irish Red Cross ! not that there is anything wrong with Dundalk ! If you were to read the Blog it certainly highlights what the Executive and Central Council will be prepared to do to you if you so much as wimper in the wrong direction.

Enjoy Peru !

Oscail

The person who asks should he or she go to Peru with Irish Red Cross is the only person who can decide this. Before deciding though know that Irish Red Cross is spending tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Euro of donor and public money suing Google, UPC and its Director of Overseas Operations because he exposed real and damning financial irregularities. They have today fired this Director of Overseas Operations in an attempt to shut him up. They have fired lots of people over the years when they to asked questions about financial irregularities. Read Noel Wardick's blog http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com and then and only then decide if you want to go to Peru with the Irish Red Cross. You are to be admired by the way for doing such good charity fundraising work. Just make sure you pick a good organisation.

running nowhere

Brendan Howlin (Labour TD) raised the case of the Irish Red Cross firing its Head of International Department today in a Dail debate on whistle blowing. The RTE player link below is the clip. The relevant part of the video is at 24 mins.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1084477

I am not sure if those outside of Ireland can view this. I hope so. One wonders what has to be done to expose once and for all the few within the Irish Red Cross who act with such despicable disregard for the very morals one would think should embody a humanitarian organisation.

running nowhere

correction - the relevant part on the above link starts at 20 minutes

Della Digby

The Irish Red Cross will no doubt be planning to take advantage of the Christian festival to pounce on the goodwill of all us kind donors who will dig deep into our pockets in the sure knowledge that the donation will be used for the purpose of insuring that the overpaid temporary Secretary General at 160k and the anonymous PR consultant shall have a very pleasant festive season.

Or will it be like last year when the people of Haiti were suffering the consequences of a terrible earthquake there was planning afoot behind the doors of Merrion square to insure that not all the money would go into the Haiti Appeal, after all if you don't specifically say that it's for Haiti then its fair game donation which can be quite legitimately used for the benefit of the Irish Red Cross for use in such circumstances that may arise which requires Humanitarian Assistance locally, an example would be Solicitors who are obviously getting it tough in the economic down turn so to insure that they are supported the Red Cross decided to use your money to insure that you don't get to know where your money actually goes and at the same time proving a point. Getting rid of Noel Wardick obviously was obviously part of the plan.. That man is too honest by far for this organisation !

So what is the point you may well ask? simple the Red Cross is above reproach and is answerable to no one. The sums that were redirected during the Haiti Appeal perhaps a paltry sum of several hundred thousand, but its not easy to be litigious in the current climate. Of curse this is all speculation as no one gets to see the full accounts! Not even the Auditors and they have said so themselves !

Crazy or what ! Did someone say they are going to Peru another fundraiser for the Google and UPC Appeal !

AnCatDubh

Letting the chap go can't have been the brightest of tactics for the IRC to undertake given the present circumstances.

running nowhere

There is an interesing exchange on the Irish Red Cross facebook page regarding this issue. The Irish Red Cross clearly do not appreciate people using the public forum to raise awkward questions.

http://www.facebook.com/IrishRedCross

gmoyne

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Letting the chap go can't have been the brightest of tactics for the IRC to undertake given the present circumstances.

Listen we are dealing with the Red Cross Management putting bright and them in the same sentence is a contradiction. This is the bunch that found they had no rule to get rid of a member so they made one up and applied it retrospectively then could not understand why they lost the High Court case....

Bright yep the sun shines in and out !

gmoyne

The Central Council of the Society will meet next Saturday in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin this will be familiar to some Council members as 11 years ago in the Penthouse Suite of the same building staff met with RTE to have their concerns aired on National TV, at the same time I was being interviewed outside RTE by Charlie bird. So 11 years later what has changed? well, the Auditors got the heave ho and it wasn't because they were doing something wrong. What was it at that time the Executive Committee were scared of ? they needed to get rid of the financial controller, why? of course he did object strongly to making alterations to the books! was it that ?

Was it the allegations in relation to the bullying and intimidation of staff ? Was it the allegations of money in banks where it should not have been ? Was it the allegations of minute rigging ? What was it that has taken 11 years to keep the same status quo. It was so funny seeing Ms Callan on prime time rolled out to once again cover up the mess for the boyos ! She was like a fish out of water.

So next Saturday 11 years on they will all once again come together and bull**** each other into believing that this whole mess is Noel Wardicks fault or mine for daring to raise our heads against what is morally wrong.

Noel Wardick was not around 11 years ago and nothing has changed., no internal investigation was held then as promised. Maybe someone will bake a cake and a celebration can be held at being able to hold out for so long !

Lets see what the Council will decide re: the allegations now and those that have yet to be addressed. Will they all be able to act as witnesses in the Google UPC case. Google should drag the whole bunch down to the four courts. Will the Central Council carry towels to wash their hands or will some do as I would expect stand up like Irish men and women and be counted for what is right !

Oscail

The Irish Daily Mail carried a good article on Noel Wardick's case yesterday, 15th November. Its now posted on Whistleblowersireland.com. The link is below:

http://whistleblowersireland.com/2010/11/15/irish-red-cross-whistleblower-noel-wardick-to-appeal-decision-to-sack-him/

gmoyne

Well the Executive of the Red Cross were due to meet today not sure if that happened. The Central Council meeting which was due to be held on Saturday has been postponed.

I wonder myself what the Executive had to say in relation to my letters which were sent prior to their last meeting. I always look forward to the " your comments are noted" but surely the genius behind those responses needs to push refresh !

Mr Carr the PR consultant still has not responded to my emails to him probably busy thinking of strategies to dig the doo out from around the Executive !

I believe Noel is doing well and looking forward to his appeal as he should do. It is amusing to think that the Executive Committee are still in situ. They must have solid brass for necks !