Irish Red Cross vs Blogger

DeVore

I believe its because they think there might be other bloggers and that Noel has identified himself to protect them. This is not the case but no one can convince the Irish Red Cross that.... says a lot about the state of paranoia in there.

DeV.

Oscail

Very sad waste of public and tax payer money for Irish Red Cross to go on such a vicious but wild goose chase of a witch hunt. Perhaps they wish to also identify all the people who posted anonymous comments especially the supportive ones. Its the sort of thing a dysfunctional organisation like Irish Red Cross would do or threaten to do in order to dissuade people posting any more comments, especially supportive ones. Unbelievable that the Minister allows this continue when he is legally perfectly entitled to intervene.

TJM

@DeV

On the identification of bloggers point - a significant problem with Irish law is that it makes it too easy for a plaintiff to seek the identity of a user from an ISP.

Although a court order is needed to force an ISP to hand over a user's identity, in practice ISPs don't have any incentive to fight the plaintiff's application. There's also no obligation on the ISP to notify the blogger in advance. If there were, the blogger could seek to anonymously resist the application in court. But since there isn't - and since ISPs generally won't resist - the order ends up being granted by default.

I wrote about this in last week's Sunday Times, in a piece that was written while the IRC case was pending but before Noel revealed his identity on the blog:
http://www.digitalrights.ie/2010/08/29/in-defence-of-online-anonymity/

Overheal

DeVore wrote: »

I believe its because they think there might be other bloggers and that Noel has identified himself to protect them. This is not the case but no one can convince the Irish Red Cross that.... says a lot about the state of paranoia in there.

DeV.

And what pray tell do they have to be paranoid about eh?

LostinBlanch

Overheal wrote: »

And what pray tell do they have to be paranoid about eh?

Yeah, it almost makes you wonder whether they have anything else to hide. You'd hope not, but their reaction and continuing this case would make you wonder.

Nehaxak

Well, maybe when the Icelandic modern media initiative goes into law there we might hopefully see more protection provided to whistle blowers and the like.
Unfortunately until then, in Ireland, people here and not just journalists, bloggers or whistle blowers et all, are at the mercy of our ridiculously restrictive libel laws coupled with our feeble data protection laws.

The IRC are probably looking to find the IP addresses of anyone that posted on the blog, then following up with court order against their ISPs to reveal their identities. Also probably to see if Noel (or others) posted to the blog from within or outside the IRC's buildings, as they may have broken some terms of employment contract in doing so (with either).

Personally, what I would do if I were Noel and if the IRC took serious disciplinary action against him after this would be to write to every government in every country that the IRC works in and lobby for their status to operate in that country to be removed or at least suspended until such a time that they enact the required changes to their organisation and internal structures.
Document everything, record any conversations if need be and transcribe them later on - put it all together in a nice little package along with the changes he thinks should be made and send it all off in the post to the country governments.
The IRC here also being part of a wider worldwide network, he should also write to all developed countries' relevant government departments and lobby them also for action against the IRC as a whole operating in that country (US/UK etc) to further pile on the pressure on the IRC here to change.

Th Americans hate this crap, talk to the right people and you could force change from outside our own country if (as it would seem to be the case) our own government are wholly inadequate to force change themselves.

Embarrass and shame them to change, if that's what it takes.

LostinBlanch

Well it looks like something is coming out of this anyway. The Sindo says that the IRC is appointing an independent accounting firm to investigate the unspent tsunami money that was lying in Tipperary for 3 years.

DeVore

How can it be "independent" if its hired by and paid for by the people it will be investigating? What a load of rubbish.

Also, Ted Noonan has declared that he is "Acting Chair of the Executive Committee".

Where is Tony Lawlor at this time? Has he resigned? Has he been relieved of his position?

This..... stinks.

DeV.

Overheal

DeVore wrote: »

How can it be "independent" if its hired by and paid for by the people it will be investigating? What a load of rubbish.

Mmmmm not always.

I retail floors (carpet, hardwood etc) and when a customer wanted to threaten us with a lawsuit the first thing we did was hire an independent inspector to make his own findings about their claim. He gets paid whether we screwed up the job or not.

Nehaxak

It's different though when it comes to matters of this nature. Money raised from the public for specific humanitarian needs was just left sitting in an account, off the books, for a number of years.

Knowing the ins and outs of a lot of this kind of stuff myself, it would lead me personally to believe that at worst this was intentional with the ultimate outcome of a person or persons withdrawing the money for personal gain at some stage in the future or, at best, total and utter incompetence on behalf of the financial structures in place at the IRC and the lack of accountability or even willingness it seems to have taken the matter seriously until it was made public knowledge.
Either way, the higher management and board of the IRC should ultimately be held to account for this.

In fact, it would be of my opinion after reading a fair bit about it all, that a criminal invatigation by the Garda may even be warranted - it would only require a member of the general public to officially request as such.

It would be better if the member of the public making the request had previously donated to the IRC and even more so if they donated specifically in the past to the Tsunami relief efforts.

DeVore

Its inconceivable that €162,000 could be "misplaced" like this... An account with 162,000 euros in it in a freaking REGIONAL bank branch would attract a manager to try to "assist" (read: move the money into life assurance, long term deposit or shares... all good for the bank). So I cant understand how this mistake could have happened.

DeV.

Mahatma coat

the 162 grand should be enough to warrant a Garda investigation, at the least its gross incompetence and this should be enough to cement this Noel Fellas case, However this having occured in Ireland how many of ye believe that this was a simple honest mistake, I've seen things like this before on comittees and such that raise funds for specific stuff, Albeit with smaller figures but theivery is Theivery whether it be 1penny or one Million Euro, Monies get 'misplaced' then once people have 'forgotten' and the initial purpose for raising the money is complete a swift accounting stroke says that the money WAS spent and lo and behold some fecker is a few grand better off.

DeVore

Noel's whistle blowing goes much further then this accounting mistake. He outlines a systemic issue of mismanagement and institutionalised incompetence.

They paid Declan O'Sullivan 320,000 over the two years while he was a "financial consultant". In that time period the "charity" ran up a financial deficit of 700,000.

Thats fncking immoral. Christ, I wont even take my taxi fare from Santas Strike Force cos I feel bad about. Fnck them and fnck him!


DeV.

demonspawn

We should round up all the crooked managers of this country, line them up against the wall and pelt them with month old scones, then send them all to Africa for a few years to get a taste of the real world. If they behave we'll let them bring the scones. If and when they've proven themselves down there, we can consider allowing them back into this country to serve their time in prison.

This is the only way forward.

fontanalis

demonspawn wrote: »

We should round up all the crooked managers of this country, line them up against the wall and pelt them with month old scones, then send them all to Africa for a few years to get a taste of the real world. If they behave we'll let them bring the scones. If and when they've proven themselves down there, we can consider allowing them back into this country to serve their time in prison.

This is the only way forward.

Not the only way, but a good way.
But seriously, shocking stuff going on. It doesn't say much when even a countries red cross is bent.

Mahatma coat

Ah but consultancy 'fees' and general 'mismanagement' can be hidden and excused and written off in many cases, the smoking gun of a bank account with 162 Grand hidden in it would be the door buster on that case IMO, its about starting at the right spot. and thats the one most likely to result in a criminal onviction, then once you have one of them by the gonads you put the squeeze on the rest and I guarantee someone will Sing like a canary for 'percieved Immunity';)

demonspawn

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Ah but consultancy 'fees' and general 'mismanagement' can be hidden and excused and written off in many cases, the smoking gun of a bank account with 162 Grand hidden in it would be the door buster on that case IMO, its about starting at the right spot. and thats the one most likely to result in a criminal onviction, then once you have one of them by the gonads you put the squeeze on the rest and I guarantee someone will Sing like a canary for 'percieved Immunity';)

Now I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I'd say Liam Lawlor would disagree. People don't sing in this country, or at least they never get the chance to.

DeVore

Why would you blow the whistle on anyone in this country?? Noel has and look what's happened to him as a result! Who would you rather be... The guy on 160k doing "financial consulting" or the guy fighting for his job who used to go help people 'not starve'.

It just all so ... wrong

DeV.

Mahatma coat

bundle the whole thing off over to wikileaks and See if they can get the ball rolling, they have a bit of Media clout.

It is sickening the levels to which Irish Cronyism closes ranks to protect its own, Thing is tho you know what will happen if anyone demands an investigation

$$$$$$$ TRIBUNAL $$$$$$$$

I can her the Fatcat Lawyers lickn their lips from here.

Have no doubt that your friend has 'Ruined his Career' in Ireland, theres no place for Moraly upstanding People with decency and backbone in an organisation like that.

demonspawn

There's a lot to be said for kangaroo courts. These fellas don't deserve a fair trial. Get em in, get em convicted, get em into prison for a few decades.

gmoyne

The Red Cross in my experience is a wonderful organisation but the Irish Red Cross does not meet the standards which is expected of a Humanitarian Organisation it is managed on a daily basis by an executive committee and a Central Council who are about as effective and useful to the general running of the orgainisation as a bull with no ( ), I personally do not know Noel Wardick, but I do know very well what he is probably going through. the Red Cross is not rotten nor is most of it's members but it has at the helm for the last two possibly three decades a right bunch who will do anything and I mean anything to remain in power.

I have personally experienced as a life member how the system works, they will threaten you, demoralise you and if all else fails totally ignore you and then just do what they have always done. I have sat on National Committees and have have seen both members and staff humiliated and sacked and bullied and it's just terrible to see this happening in what is supposed to be a humanitarian organisation. But the tide is turning and these guys are up to their necks in doo doo. The recent events re: funds for Appeals is nothing new. I and others brought to the attention of the Executive Committee a decade ago the question why were funds being retained for years in accounts and not being used other than to gather interest.

Why is this impartial organisation which is required under International statutes and laws looking at a political party under the rule of the Minister of Defence to sort out the problems, the Red Cross is supposed to be Neutral and Impartial... Not this Society.

Good on ye Noel keep the chin up as your ass will be well kicked by the time the Red Cross Executive Committee has finished with you.

gmoyne

Hoarding could be described as a waste of time, but for me it appears it has now benifits. Last evening I was wondering when did my confidence or lack of confidence in the Irish Red Cross ability to manage funds donated by the Irish public begin. I joined the Red Cross in 1974 and it took a few years for me to figure out that this was no ordinary organisation it had a hierarchy or should I say Monarchy. If anyone remembers Mary B you will remember well what I mean. It was a cae of speak when spoken and no one and I mean no one got passed the door of Merrion Square not unless you were part of the circle. They had a trap door approach to the public back then, they would open the small hatch at the front door and you looked in at nothing and that was my experience of the Red Cross.

Anyhow, back to hoarding I glanced through some letters and found correspondence to the National Secretary from myself in 1991 regarding donations for the appeal for the gulf war victims. I raised a sunstantial amount of money at the time and obviously by trust was at it's peak so I had the cheques made out directly to the League of Red Cross as it appears that I believed at the time that the Irish Red Cross were not as diligant as one could have expected.

Following this was the Anti Mine campaign yet again the Irish Red Cross were not at the forefront in lobbying the Governement to have mines banned Internationally, the truth is they didn't actually wish to get involved at all.

Even when Lady Diana Spencer threw her gauntlet into the ring the Irish Red Cross still could not bring themselves to do anything as this once again would show that their role as a body which insurered grovernance of International Humanitarian Law was to say the least extrememly wanting.

So were are now back to today and the membership like blue tac, they have their uses will just stick to whatever it is they do and as for getting involved in doing the right thing and bring those responsible to a court of their piers, well as me Granny would say don't sit on your hands waiting it might be a long wait.

gmoyne

Many Executive members will remember the incident with the Beef, no I'm not talking about the American Add on Tv although its the same catch phrase " Where's the Beef". I often wondered where exactly did it go ? All that wonderful beef given, donated or was it bought?

I of course know exactly the answers, but it's not for me to acount for anything. The Executive Committee members who made the decisions need to be held accountable.

Then there is the question of the school in Armenia what happened to all those plans a vast amount of money was spent on architects, to plan this project was this another hole in the ground to throw donations into..? Was this another wee dream was it sanctioned by the Federation before the Irish Red Cross lost the run of themselves.

So many questions no answers !

The good stuff has yet to come !

Scofflaw

New Chairman for the IRC

The Government has today announced that David J O'Callaghan has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Irish Red Cross. The appointment follows the recommendation by the Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen TD.

O'Callaghan was formerly a Secretary General of the Dept of Defence from 1995 to 2004. He's currently Chairman of the Integrated Ticketing Project Board and also Chairman of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management.

Minister Killeen has welcomed O'Callaghan's appointment, pointing to his immediate tasking of overseeing the reform process at the IRC.

Interesting timing.

cordially,
Scofflaw

gmoyne

It would appear that the new chairman of the Irish Red Cross was Secretary General of the Dept of Defence during the period 1995 to 2004 this indeed is most interesting as he will be able to delve into the reasons why the Dept of Defence took no action re the accusations made by myself and others during this period to the Central Council and the Executive Committee re the dismissal of members of staff and the then subsequent settlement by the Society to those individuals. The Dept of Defence has a representative on the borard of the Red Cross who should obviously report back to the Secretary General who would inturn report I would hope to the Minister.

So he can now perhaps shed some light to us members why his Department decided not to push for the so called full strategic review of the Society in 1999 which promised to answer some of the previous difficulties within the Society of the retention of funds meant for Appeals.

I look forward as a member to meet the new chairman and finally find out why an Organisation such as the Red Cross which is supposed to be Neutral remains under the control of the Dept. of Defence.

Good to have someone now in the camp who can get to grips with the systemic failures by the Society for three decades and the ability to address the irrelgularities which are current. We now also have a man who would have been given all the data on the Society during his tenure as Secretary of the Department of defence 1995 - 2004 and have access to all the historical info so that the real story can perhpas be unfolded for the best of the organisation!

God only knows why they let this go on for so long ! Best of luck to Mr Wardick who through his courage brought this matter to the fore he must be commended by the Society and the Red Cross Internationally and should at least be given a life membership for putting truth before self interest.

gmoyne

In my last quote I mentionsed the tenure of the new Chairman and forgot to mention that when the staff went out on the street in 1999 it's this gentleman who would at the time be keeping the top bod the Minister informed with the good old answers to the press. Of course the questions in the Dail at the time would also have come across his desk and of course statements prepared.

The Red Cross is like a bucket with a hole at the moment the staff are leaving wholesale and not a word from the man in charge the stand in stand up Secretary General. The bunkers are being prepared and the hatches are all secured and the Irish public can be assured it's business as normal your money is safe with us for another decade that is until the next hero who decides to share the experience of working in 16 Merrion Square !

DeVore

I just care about what happens to Noel at this point, he blew the whistle, clearly someone was stung badly enough to act now after 6 months!

Timing is very interesting of course the people at fault will continue with cushy quangoes while Noel goes job hunting. So freaking wrong....


DeV.

gmoyne

The great thing about this forum is that unlike 10 years ago when I was getting it up the nose and other parts from the Red Cross there was no forum to write in, there was no support from my fellow Red Cross members, there was no method of telling everyone what was happening. So if Noel Wardick is shafted then it us that are shamed in that we let it happen without doing some serious screaming.

I have so much that I would like to write about so many documents that provide a clear crisp history of what was going on two decades ago, there are so many ex employees and ex members who are aching and biting at the bit to tap nails in to the hands that caused a Humanitarian Society to become in human. But all that will all come in good time.

Of course the current members are not really interested in a history lesson as that was in the past and we they are not really interested in the past as this would mean taking action against our big powerful members, they will say as they have said in the past we must look into the future and forget the past. Well, that isn't really good enough as far as I'm concerned.

The Red Cross members don't actually know much about the organisation as the Scoiety isn't really into insuring that everyone is infomed. If you are lucky enough even to be appointed to the Central Council the Governing body they make sure you will not know much even then, as there is no effort to insure you know what the obligations are upon a National Society or what are the legal oblications etc. etc. no manuals, no training, no effort.

Being informed is a dangerous position to be in as I soon found out. Having become the first person to become and Instructor for the Red Cross in Humanitarian Law, needless to say this training was given by the British Red Cross and paid for by myself. I was not once asked or given the opportunity to use this training in the Irish Red Cross. Too risky for the big powerful members !

They were not happy about this at top level and tried to kick my ass out citing that they were concerned that I was a member of another National Society and this was not on. The Irish Red Cross didn't like anyone who could or would question them on any subject or front so they just stopped talking simple as that.

So lets see in the coming weeks how they handle Noel Wardick or will they do the same as they did to Louis White a former employee invent rules apply them retrospectively and pay up, hell it's not their money it's yours !

gmoyne

Sorry for the typos in my last post... Fingers are not what they used to be these days !

DeVore

Seems like its now possibly 1 Million euros in various accounts that have not been spent as intended over the years.

http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/2010/09/1-million-in-donations-to-irish-red.html


This is just scandalous and they are being allowed to "appoint an independent investigator". How are they independent if they get to choose who, and they pay their fee too.

This whole thing needs to be taken apart piece by piece and examined. Something is very rotten in the state of Denmark.

DeV.

gmoyne

DeVore wrote: »

Seems like its now possibly 1 Million euros in various accounts that have not been spent as intended over the years.

http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/2010/09/1-million-in-donations-to-irish-red.html


The Red Cross PR person said that the above is " This is untrue and without foundation." The Red Cross spokesman was obviously told deny, deny, deny ! Let them prove it, then comes the interesting part, we can , Oh dear !

What will the PR person do, oh yes lets twist it and blame the branches that should work. Sorry ! once again the paper work proves it was the executive management. oh dear what can the PR person come up with now ! Lets suggest it was a very long time ago ! No that won't work either.

What the hell who cares the PR person is getting a fistfull of money so what odds if it's true or not ! Pity this peson was not in the knitting business they would make a fortune spinning yarns !

So the Executive comes up with a real plan ! appoint someone to look into it " A firm of accountants" and to make it interesting let no one know who it is and that way all the nuisance public will forget this whole thing in a few weeks and by that time they can go back to what they do best.

Sorry lads this is one member who did not go away 20 years it has taken me to get to this point and I have been totally vindicated in that I accused the Irish Red Cross of failure to manage donations meant for those that needed it and 20 years later they are still doing the same thing!

Patience is a virtue !

Oscail

See Sunday Times article written on October 3rd on page 10. It says Irish Red Cross is going to sue Google in America for the names and identities of every single person who posted a comment on Noel Wardick's blog which has been very critical of the shenanigans that goes on within that organisation. First they were suing Google for Noel Wardick's identity (their International Director) but he revealed his identity himself so now they are still wasting Irish people's donations trying to sue Google to identify the names of all the people who have posted 170 comments on Noel's blog so far. Who the hell are these guys making these decisions? Is tax payers money going to this organisation? Is the Minister going to allow this continue? The full Sunday Times article is available on Noel's blog at

http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com

DeVore

Not only that but Google is a donator to both the Irish Red Cross and the International Red Cross.

I'm so f*cking proud of Noel but I'm not surprised. Noel and I came up together and you wont meet a more conscientious, honest, hard working guy. I'm proud to call him a friend.

Here's the one last guy in the country willing to put his ethics and morals ahead of his own self-interest and his job and he's going to get hung out to dry and lose a job he has worked hard at for years and years both in the field and at home.

The reason we are in a fecking state as a country is because we need about 10,000 MORE Noel Wardicks. People will the balls to say "this is going to hurt me, but I cant stand by and watch this happen, I have to blow the whistle". Hence my sig, which I wish people would copy in fact...


DeV.

LostinBlanch

Well that didn't take long did it?

The IRC, 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 for three years.

This weekend, a spokesman for the IRC confirmed the axing of the independent inquiry, on costs grounds.

Well they have to pay for suing Google some way or other don't they? :rolleyes:

What a spineless abdication of responsibility from defence minister Tony Killeen. He'd give Pontius Pilate a good run for his money.

His spokeswoman said:

The Red Cross is an independent charitable body. The minister has no role in the day-to-day activities or internal decisions of the society or its executive council.

Well that's OK then.

Jimmy Deenihan is the only politician I can see who's calling for a full top to bottom independent investigation of the IRC. Why is nobody else?

DeVore

Also, if that was true why are they going to advertise the Secretary General on publicjobs.ie!!


The entire thing is just getting more and more "oirish" by the minute!!


Its a total farce... a complete and utter fiasco! They have enough money to waste on stupid court cases against their benefactors and perhaps they could use some of the 162,000 that was just "resting" in a Tipp bank account.... just a thought.


DeV.

Oscail

The Minister's claim he cant get involved is false. Under the Defence Act 1939 which set up the Irish Red Cross the Minister is allowed intervene in the day to day administrative and financial affairs of the organisation if the Minister deems it necessary. The Minister and his officials know this full well. The Minister appoints 15 members of the 42 Irish Red Cross Central Council. The Minister appoints the Irish Red Cross Chairman. A senior official from the Minister's department of Defence has a permanent seat on the Executive Committee of the Irish Red Cross, which effectively runs the organisation. The Minister's representative is therefore always involved in day to day decisions. It seems the Minister wishes to be selective on what he gets involved in and what he doesnt. Protecting the Irish public's and taxpayer's money seems to be an area he is not interested in. This is an abdication of his responsibility. The Minister adopted this same position on Prime Time on 26th August 2010 and was destroyed by the presenter Richard Crowley. It seems the Minister has not learned from this experience.

Barely a month ago the Irish Red Cross announced to the media it was going to conduct an independent investigation into the undeclared Tipperary bank account which was found to have €162,000 sitting in it for over three years instead of going to the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami where is was intended for. Red Cross insiders who know the carry on of the place felt is was probably only a ruse to get the media off their backs especially as they refused to name the accountancy firm involved. Thank god for an independent, free, curious and skeptical media as they smelled a rat and this week the Irish Red Cross was forced to admit they had no intention of conducting an independent investigation. Now the matter will be investigated internally....ah yes turkeys voting for Christmas and all that! These people have shown their unlimited disdain and disregard for propriety. Where is the new Chairman in all this? Did he santion this disasterous decision? If so we can give up all hope of reform and change. Those responsible for the Tipperary bank account must be laughing their backsides off having managed to quash the independent investigation. A big sigh of relief all round. Another bad day for integrity.

Yitzhak Rabin

This kind of thing is so utterly demoralising. How on earth can they hope to have any shred of credibility left if won't allow an independent inquiry.

Hopefully this should be the cue for investigative journalists to smell a rat a put the management through the wringer. Nothing ever changes unless there is a full inquiry and people who mismanaged funds and acted inappropriately are forced to be accountable for their decisions.

Their case against google is laughable. If the toxic attitude to pursue and punish those that speak out against poor governance, then the IRC is doomed to continue as a corrupt and unethical organisation.

Has the Int'l Red Cross said anything about it?

DeVore

I mailed them but no reply.

TBH I'm holding off on campaigning about this because of Noels situation but it looks like they are going to dismiss him after the "disciplinary hearing".

DeV.

Trojan

Disgraceful. It's really a sad state of affairs when you have to wonder about whether your charitable donations are being used correctly, particularly to well established organisations like that. I wonder what the IFRC make of it, and what their policies are in relation to national societies who are doing things like this.

gmoyne

I wouldn't worry about your donations they are being well taken care of. Of course this is not the place to list off the amount of your donations have gone to paying compensation by the way of Industrial settlements to ex employees and there have been many.

Then there is the amount of money paid to PR people to come up with sad stories how they really didn't know about all them accounts over the years and all the buildings that were given to the Red Cross then there is all the legacy's. So much to remember and it's only Monday!

Then of course you will appreciate that to insure that the good name of the Red Cross does not fall into disrepute the case against Google had to be taken. They must be punished as we Irish cannot allow our dirty washing to be discussed in public.

The Irish Red Cross is the elephant in the room and it's got nothing to do with the economy or the downturn its just a simple case of power and the need to maintain it at all cost to you the donor!

gmoyne

Trojan wrote: »

Disgraceful. It's really a sad state of affairs when you have to wonder about whether your charitable donations are being used correctly, particularly to well established organisations like that. I wonder what the IFRC make of it, and what their policies are in relation to national societies who are doing things like this.

I think the International Federation of Red Cross Societies and the International Red Cross are as frustrated with the Irish Red Cross as many of the members are, whilst they do have power to sanction the Irish Red Cross they are slow to do this as after all it is probably one of the smallest National Societies they have. Also when one considers the lack of respect shown in the past to senior members visiting Ireland from the League it is no wonder that our reputation is well and truly tainted.

Also our unwillingness as a National Society to enforce resolutions of the over the years was noted with great concern. A good example was the Anti Mine campaign in which the Irish Red Cross was brought screaming into the campaign at a late hour. Also when one looks at the conflict in our own Country the Irish Red Cross had virtually no contact with our colleagues in the British Red Cross until myself and a few others developed a relationship in the 1990's and that was met with some aggression from some in the management as they only wanted First Aid and that was it.

gmoyne

I see that Mr Gogarty has made comments on boards in response to De Vore whilst it is is good to see a politician respond to such as sensitive issue perhaps he is not aware that his party sits on the board of the Irish Red Cross.

The Government have nominees representing the green party on the board. I would have thought the least that would be expected form a party nominee is a report back to the party detailing the irregularities and goings on in Red Cross and the seriousness of the court case against Google and of course the serious allegations against the Society by many members past and present.

The Blog which questions reform within the Red Cross appears to be now a regular read World wide so I believe that it may be time for the Green Party and others to have a talk to their representatives on the board of Red Cross and get to grips with their failure to act !

DeVore

I've put Noel Wardick and Paul Gogarty in touch with each other. Names are being prepared so that questions can be asked.

The Minister said he couldnt intervene but look what has been dropped in my inbox:

---

The Act which established the Red Cross, is the Red Cross Act, 1938. In Section 1, subsection (2), it states;

Red Cross Act wrote:

(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.

Point ( g ) could not not be more clear cut in applying to the current affairs, and mal-governance of the IRC.

Further, the minister may claim that the Federation of the Red Cross societies would be against any interventions by government.

However in recent days, the government of South Korea have intervened in the case of almost an identical scenario as is happening here;

Red Cross hit for improper use of Haiti donations
By Bae Ji-sook


The Korean National Red Cross (KNRC) came under fire for its slack management of funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

It has spent only 1.2 billion won ($1 million) or 12.8 percent of the 9.7 billion won in total donations raised so far though it has been nine months since the natural disaster took place, according to Rep. Kang Myung-soon of the Grand National Party.

Most of the money spent so far was used to cover the costs for activities by the medical teams, Kang said. During an audit by the National Assembly into the government-subsidized organization Tuesday, the improper use of donations was uncovered.

Of the total funds, 6.6 billion won has been sitting idly in two term deposit accounts, and only a negligible amount of money has been used to directly assist the Haiti victims.

Of the 1.2 billion won, only 675 million won has been used to benefit the victims firsthand through the international Red Cross, while the rest covered the airfare for the international Red Cross medical team, and other operational costs, she said.

The lawmaker also denounced the organization for providing high-end hotel lodging for the medical team in the Dominican Republic before they crossed the Haitian border. She claimed that they stayed at a pricey hotel and even consumed six bottles of soju at 10,000 won per bottle.

“They should have been more prudent in spending money collected through the goodwill of ordinary donators,” she said.

The Red Cross was also blamed for saving the leftover donations in the bank. Two accounts hold 3.3 billion won each. “Why would the Red Cross need to save it in a bank when there are people in need of assistance that the money could provide? The organization promised to spend the money by next year, but I seriously doubt that,” she said.

For its part, the Red Cross explained that it had deposited the money for interest gains.

“In the case of the earthquake in China or Tsunami in the Southeast Asian countries, the money was spent over a period of several years. International experts also confirmed that Haiti’s recovery will take years,” said Yoo Chong-ha, head of the KNRC. “We have tried to benefit from even the smallest interest the bank could give us to last over the long term,” he added.

“The money has been spent on delivering blood and other medical supplies. We have also supported rebuilding housings through the international Red Cross. We will make the most use of the fund,” the organization later stated.


The International Federation of Red Cross societies doesn't seem to mind the Korean government intervening, so if the minister claims that they would, then that is also untrue.

I've been up the walls busy today, so haven't had much time to look into it, I'll try and get you a comprehensive summary over the weekend at some stage.

Yitzhak Rabin

I emailed the International Federation of Red Cross societies to try and get them to comment on the situation.

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is xxxxxxxxxxxx, and I am a donator to the Irish Red Cross.

However in recent months I have become completely disillusioned by the self serving actions of the Irish branch of the society.

I will not go into the details as I am sure you are more than aware of the recent scandals, involved, such as the misuse of large sums of funds.

However, my main concern right now, is there seems to be nothing being done about the extremely poor governance standards in the Irish Red Cross. One man, Noel Wardick, has stood up and blown the whistle on the poor standards in the society. As a result, a true humanitarian, is being forced out of his job. This situation is despicable in my mind, and severely damages the credibility of the Red Cross

I am also concerned that the Red Cross is pursuing Google in the Irish courts, for IP address of people who have commented on Noels blog. This is also of great concern, as it shows a lack of willingness on the Red Cross to reform, and rather, they would like to punish those who have tried to draw attention to the issues. This is a complete waste of resources, particularly given Google is one of the Irish Red Cross' benefactors.

So I would really appreciate a reply, as to where The International Federation of the Red Cross stands on the issue.

Yours Faithfully,

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

However, it seems they are either unwilling, or unable to intervene.

Dear Mr. xxxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for your message and for sharing your concerns with us.

As you probably know, IFRC is a membership organisation of independent national societies that operate following their statutes and the country legal base. The IFRC has the responsibility to "encourage and promote in every country the establishment and development of an independent and duly recognised National Society" (IFRC Constitution, 2007).

In fulfilling that task the IFRC has been at the full disposal and support of Irish RC, in the last years during their difficult period of reviewing their legal base and structure.

IFRC and Irish RC are in full accordance on the necessary steps to take to modernise the National Society. We hope that the new leadership will go ahead with the implementation of such changes.

As per your concerns in regard to HR management of Irish RC, we are not in the position to either interfere or comment as that is an internal matter of an independent organisation.

Hope this is of help

Best
________________________________________________________
Rudina Pema, Senior Regional Advisor, Europe
Governance Support Department
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Although I think if a few more people email them, then, it will at least put them under pressure, into perhaps speaking to the Irish management about it.

If anyone else wants to contact them directly, they can email her at rudina.pema at ifrc dot org

or you could email the head of the European office directly anitta.underlin at ifrc dot org

I really think the more pressure we can put on the Irish management the better. An email expressing your dissatisfaction could only take 2 or 3 minutes, but could make a difference, if it puts the Irish management into the international federations spotlight.

DeVore

So they arent answerable to the international red cross... nor (apparently, though its a lie) to the Irish Government???

What are then they? Super-Chuggers??


DeV.

DeVore

By the way, Noel refused to attend his disciplinary hearing today as its being led by the person he accused!


So so so wrong. *shakes head*


DeV.

Yitzhak Rabin

DeVore wrote: »

So they arent answerable to the international red cross... nor (apparently, though its a lie) to the Irish Government???

What are then they? Super-Chuggers??


DeV.

Well they should at the very least be answerable to their donors. So if enough of us email them, email of representatives, and email media outlets, then hopefully we can put enough pressure and spotlight on them that they might actually reconsider their recent actions.

This is also the most effective time to put them in the spotlight, as they go to the public to look for donations in the run up to Christmas.

Yitzhak Rabin

DeVore wrote: »

By the way, Noel refused to attend his disciplinary hearing today as its being led by the person he accused!


So so so wrong. *shakes head*


DeV.

Yeah, its ridiculous alright. Its the equivalent of an assault victim being tried by the person who they accused of assaulting them. Its lunacy.

bytey

i cant believe these mother f.uckers
ive donated a number of times and this is how it ends up /

Im emailing the c.unts right now .

Thirdfox

I've stopped my donations - especially after getting no response from emailing them.