Daughter quits Goal year after O’Shea departure

The charity synonymous with the O’Shea clan has lost a second family member following Lisa O’Shea’s decision to quit Goal less than a year after her father John left in controversial circumstances.

New CEO Barry Andrews confirmed Ms O’Shea, the charity’s head of fundraising and marketing, handed in her notice while on maternity leave. She worked for 17 years for the overseas aid agency and was scheduled to return to work on Jul 10. Mr Andrews said she did not receive an exit package.

Mr Andrews also confirmed John O’Shea will not be assuming an ambassadorial role with the charity he founded in 1977, or have any future involvement, despite Goal saying last year that it intended to “explore opportunities to collaborate with John for the betterment of the organisation, given his vast experience and expertise”.

This statement was in the wake of a confidential settlement reached with Mr O’Shea after he took a High Court action last July aimed at stopping the board of Goal from removing him as CEO.

Mr O’Shea left his post last August and it was rumoured then that Lisa was interested in the job. Lisa’s sister Karen still works for Goal. She is on maternity leave and Mr Andrews said he had not heard if she was planning to quit Goal.

Asked by the Irish Examiner if he knew the reason for Lisa’s departure, Mr Andrews said “no”.

“I mean she can speak for herself, but I understand there’s some new venture that she’s embarking upon,” Mr Andrews said. He said Lisa was “very highly thought of” and that the organisation wished her well.

Ms O’Shea is the only member of the charity’s senior management team to quit her position since the departure of her father. Jonathan Edgar, who acted as CEO before Mr Andrew’s appointment, is now chief operations officer.

Jerry Cole, previously acting chief operations officer, is now head of internal audit and risk; Alan Glasgow, formerly acting HR manager, is now head of a new business development unit; Nicky Maguire remains chief financial officer and Darren Hanniffy, formerly head of logistics and IT, is acting head of fundraising and marketing. Asked if Mr Hanniffy would formally take over from Ms O’Shea, Mr Andrews said no decision had been made.

Mr Andrews, who has a four-year contract with Goal, is paid a salary of €95,000 per annum, but the total cost of employment, including pension, is €125,000. He does not receive any allowances or benefit-in-kind, he said.

Mr Andrews said Mr O’Shea was “absolutely heroic” in the way he set up Goal and that his achievements were amazing.