Fr Peter McVerry: 'Resignation not connected to €15m State bailout'

Fr Peter McVerry says he 'remains committed' to the housing and homeless organisation which he established back in 1983. File picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Fr Peter McVerry has said his resignation as secretary of the Peter McVerry Trust was not in any way connected to the €15m State bailout of the charity.

Despite stepping down as board secretary after more than 40 years last week, Fr McVerry says he “remains committed” to the housing and homeless organisation which he established back in 1983.

According to Fr McVerry, people on the board of any charity are “expected to rotate on a regular basis, so that there is 'new blood' coming in".

“I have been secretary of the trust since it was founded, which goes back a long, long time, and the regulators have asked that we just simply rotate the role. I'm quite happy to rotate the role,” he told Newstalk Breakfast on Wednesday.

Back in 2023, the Government agreed to give a bailout worth €15m to the organisation as it faced serious cashflow problems, on the condition of reform within the charity.

When asked whether his resignation may have been linked to the bailout, Fr McVerry responded: “Absolutely not. This would happen anyway. The rotation of secretary and the rotation of the board is a standard procedure in all charities."

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He said the change was to “ensure that things don't go stale” at the organisation.

However, explaining the reason why he held the position of secretary at the charity for so long, over 40 years, Mr McVerry said: “I’m always available.

“I’m around 24 hours, seven days a week. I sign documents, whereas other secretaries may be on holidays, or may be tied up in other ways, and may not be as readily available.

“That was the reason I have been secretary for so long, but the regulators have asked, and we agreed, that we would rotate the role. It's as simple as that.” 

He went on to say that his resignation being linked to the State bailout was “the non-story of all non-stories” and while he has stepped down as secretary, he remains on the charity’s board.

“I am totally committed to the Trust. I think the Trust has done fantastic work over the last 40 years, at times when it got very little support at the beginning from Government sources."

Despite the “turmoil that has happened over the last year”, which Fr McVerry says has been “widely publicised”, he says the Trust “continues to do its work.” 

“Our services continue unabated.

He said:

We still house almost a thousand homeless people in our hotels. We still run our drug and alcohol treatment centres. We still house homeless people in their own permanent housing.

Last year, an investigation into the Peter McVerry Trust identified “inappropriate transfers” of funds and failures in board oversight in the management and administration of the charity.

The investigation by the Charities Regulator found a lack of adequate and appropriate financial controls with which the board could exercise control over the affairs of the housing charity. Among many concerns, it also found a failure to adhere to “donor intention” in how restricted funds were used.

Fr McVerry acknowledged that there had been “deficiencies” and “a failure of financial oversight” but said that the charity was getting back on track. He said what happened in the past year had been “very depressing”, and that some media reports were exaggerated, and some issues had been reported “out of context".