‘Duffy did wonderful work for IAA’ says chief executive

The chief executive of Irish Autism Action has said Keith Duffy did “wonderful work” for the charity.

Brian Murnane, the newly appointed CEO of IAA, was commenting after the Boyzone star said he received no thanks from the charity after stepping down as its patron in 2015.

He has raised €8m for the organisation.

“After all I had done, when I did step down, I didn’t even receive as much as a thank you card, or my wife never even received as much as a bunch of flowers,” Mr Duffy told the Irish Independent.

Mr Murnane was asked about these comments and said he was only appointed CEO recently, but that he acknowledged the Boyzone star’s contribution to IAA.

“I will say that Keith did wonderful work for the charity, and for families all over Ireland. As this was before my time as CEO, I have no comment to make,” Mr Murnane told the Irish Examiner.

Attempts to contact Mr Duffy’s spokesman yesterday were unsuccessful.

In a meeting last Wednesday held by Irish Autism Mammys, Mr Murnane was reported to have said that the €8m that Mr Duffy raised for the charity — which he stepped down from as patron from last year — cost €7m to raise.

“That was a semi-flippant comment,” said Mr Murnane. “The point that I was trying to make was that was a gross revenue figure and I would also say an approximate figure, and that’s also a figure that’s been raised over more than 10 years. But it is a gross figure.

“What the true net figure is is actually more difficult to estimate.”

Mr Duffy’s comments regarding the lack of thanks he received were on the back of this remark.

The singer, whose daughter Mia has autism, had campaigned tirelessly for IAA for more than 10 years, hosting galas and golf tournaments and raising much-needed awareness for autism.

Brian Murnane, CEO of Irish Autism Action, acknowledged the work the Boyzone star did for the organisation, but said it was before his time as chief executive.

When he stepped aside as the charity’s patron, he said he was doing so with a heavy heart, but that he will always help children who are on the autism spectrum.

The charity has made headlines again in the last number of days after it emerged it was cutting back on its core outreach service.

It now provides outreach services to two families in Ireland.

The news was followed by a number of parents taking to social media to air their grievances about their inability to make contact with the IAA.

Last Wednesday, Irish Autism Mammys held a meeting with Mr Murnane.

It was at this meeting, that Mr Murnane was alleged to have told the parents present that the €8m that Mr Duffy raised for the charity cost €7m to raise.

It also emerged that the charity did not write a budget for 2016.

Mr Murnane told the Irish Examiner last Wednesday that “there was no budget actually written for 2016, as a matter of fact”.

“And you know budgeting is kind of a hazardous occupation in a charity, simply because you’re at the mercy of fundraised income, which had fallen by 30% in each of the prior two years.

“So were we expecting the same thing to happen again? We’re actually operating on a cash-flow budget basis at the moment, as opposed to a more formal [one].”

Mr Murnane also told the Irish Examiner that there had been a staff reduction at IAA.

“The staff of 14 included seven permanent staff cross a range of functions, and the equivalent of seven full-time staff employed to work on behavioural outreach cases.

“Today that figure is one full-time staff member, three part-time staff members, and three others working on the [intensive] outreach cases,” Mr Murnane said.

Furthermore, its helpline, which was implied as being manned Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, is not serviced in this manner, the charity boss admitted.