The embattled board of Scouting Ireland was “exhausted” by infighting that saw a complete breakdown of trust between two former members and the rest of the directors, an external review has found.
The youth organisation has been weathering a series of crises in recent years as it continues to grapple with the fallout from a big historical child sex abuse scandal.
A review of the organisation’s current governance found its board had not been able to properly operate for more than a year at a time when “Scouting Ireland’s financial sustainability was in doubt”.
The review, completed last August and seen by The Irish Times, said board members felt “tired, exhausted and wiped out” by infighting.
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There had been a “breakdown in trust” between two directors, Donnachadha Reynolds and Jacques Kinane, and the rest of the board, the review said.
The pair were removed from the organisation’s board last year after a protracted row with other directors.
The two former directors previously alleged the “integrity” of child protection standards in the youth organisation was in “jeopardy” because of bitter disputes in the boardroom.
They were been elected to the board in late-2022 and removed last April following a vote by the organisation’s membership.
The governance review said the pair “appeared to have had a specific agenda to disrupt board proceedings”, which included leaking confidential financial information to the media.
It said the two directors had been “impeding normal work such as approving the audited financial accounts, albeit at a time when Scouting Ireland’s financial sustainability was in doubt”.
Legal cases for compensation from more than 50 of the 350 people allegedly sexually abused as children in predecessor bodies, the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland and Scout Association of Ireland, have threatened to bankrupt the organisation.
A 2020 report by child protection expert Ian Elliott concluded child sexual abuse had been “tolerated” at the highest levels of former bodies and covered-up for decades.
The two former directors had doubts about signing off Scouting Ireland’s annual financial accounts due to concerns the legal cases taken by abuse survivors risked wiping out the organisation.
“The actions of these two board members led to a breakdown in trust between them and the rest of the board,” the review said. As a result, it added, many important issues “did not get any attention or got limited attention” during board meetings.
The review was carried out by corporate governance consultant David W Duffy.
Earlier this year the Charities Regulator opened a statutory investigation into Scouting Ireland. It is examining the control and ownership of the organisation’s charitable assets as well as digging into delays in preparing financial accounts.
In a statement, Mr Reynolds said he and Mr Kinane had been “vindicated” as whistleblowers, by the regulator’s decision to open an investigation.
The pair had flagged issues with Scouting Ireland’s financial accounts due to “very obvious governance and financial concerns materially affecting the organisation’s ability to sustainably operate,” he said. Mr Kinane said he could not comment.
A spokeswoman for Scouting Ireland said the review recommended the board set a code of conduct “to be able to deal with directors who do not abide by such a code, while emphasising the need for confidentiality of all board matters”.
The review also said the organisation’s internal audit and risk committee “does not function effectively and has no qualified accountant to provide challenge where appropriate”.
It found the current board was “spread too thin” with several vacancies and there was no process to bar “inappropriate candidates” from the organisation’s membership standing for election to the board.
