Former GOAL chair ends silence over resignation

THE former chair of international aid agency GOAL has said he decided to quit his position on foot of being told by the charity’s chief executive he had no trust or confidence in him.

Breaking his silence on the reason for his resignation, barrister Ken Fogarty said he had arrived for a board meeting last month in the belief it was to do with an emergency that had arisen following a meeting between GOAL and the Department of Finance.

Instead, he was confronted by John O’Shea prior to the meeting. “Out of blue, he said he didn’t have confidence in my ability to continue,” said Mr Fogarty. “It was clear before the meeting that the CEO didn’t trust me and had no confidence in me. It was absolutely not what I expected to hear... I was walked into it.”

Mr Fogarty, who was chair of the board of directors from August to October this year, said he was invited to take up the role by GOAL and had given a commitment to deliver a restructuring programme for the charity by December 2011. To assist him in this, he invited Fran Rooney, chartered accountant and lawyer and former chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, to also sit on the board. Mr Rooney resigned on Friday.

Both had been involved in a forensic analysis of GOAL’s legal structure for the purpose of modernising its corporate governance, improving supervision and bringing the agency, founded in 1977, into the 21st century, Mr Fogarty said.

To this end, he drew up a 64-page document which he hoped GOAL would adopt as a blueprint for a model of modern corporate governance.

“Corporate governance is one that has a number of legal difficulties already built into it and I was just trying to bring in a structure that was novel, innovative and that I hoped would become the gold standard for corporate governance in charities, and that GOAL would lead the way,” Mr Fogarty said.

He said he was “100% behind GOAL’s ethos”; that he had not taken the job “with the view of upsetting people” and that he regarded Mr O’Shea as a very passionate man “whose priorities were scrupulous” and with whom he had shaken hands at the end of the meeting where he tendered his resignation.

GOAL issued a statement yesterday saying its board had full confidence in and support for Mr O’Shea. It said the charity is audited annually and undergoes “rigorous financial scrutiny” from international donors, including Irish Aid, the Government arm for overseas development aid.