Joan Freeman launching her Presidential cam,paign City Assembly House South William Dublin 2 this morning.
Presidential candidate and Independent Senator Joan Freeman did not donate her Seanad salary to the suicide prevention charity she founded, Pieta House, as she pledged to do.
Shortly after her nomination, Ms Freeman stated she would donate her €66,277 salary from the role to Pieta House, where she had served as chief executive until the end of 2014.
Ms Freeman instead donated €41,000 to Solace House, a separate New York-based charity she set up in 2015…Financial statements from Pieta House state the US service would be an “arm’s length domestic not-for-profit corporation” incorporated in New York. The project was initially funded by a €72,258 grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs…
Good times.
Joan Freeman did not donate Seanad salary to Pieta House as pledged (Irish Times)
And what’s actually wrong with this.What’s the actual problem.
Did she receive a salary / fee from Solace House ?
BTW : What qualifications does Joan Freeman have?
Open University MA in psychology.
Okkaaay
Thanks Spaghetti Hoop :)
It is in the FS that ” following her appointment to Seanad Eireann , in 2016, that Joan rebated her net Seanad salary to the USA pilot project”.
From 2015 to 2017 , she was paid a salary by Pieta House.
There was a statutory redundancy cost in 2017 , as per FS. I would assume that this would be genuine redundancy .
Regarding the Redundancy, I would hope it was a genuine redundancy. Although I’m struggling to think of a role an organisation like Pieta House would need to make redundant.
I’m out and about today-but Charity Navigator has the IRS forms (990)that all US Charities have file,all info will be there.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/
Indeed, that is the check that should be done. The IT can pay Bodger for my services.
With love.
It might be a job for the FOI handymen. Statutory Redundancies, as far as I aware, still have to registered with Dept of Trade, Enterprise & Employment.
It would be terrible for someone to be saying they resigned when in fact they were made Redundant and in receipt of Redundancy Payments.
Worse again if they were replaced within the mandatory time limit.
Pieta USA was wound up / shut down !
It became solas house
V there’s a post on here about her appearing on the late late,some links and AC info posted there.
Will update later.
Any related parties there Johnny (sorry I am on my phone so searching is a bit too cumbersome.) Although I must admit I am more intrigued by this Redundancy news.
I’m on phone also till later-will ferret out what I can.
Here you go Vanessa,links, look at Broadsheet-breaking this news back in January,the IT what :)
https://www.broadsheet.ie/2018/01/18/staying-in-tomorrow-night-26/
dunno. just something about her being involved in the misdirection of a large sum of money I think.
If she pledged it to one cause and then redirected it elsewhere after the fact, I would say people will question her ability to follow through on her election promises.
well Higgins promised he wouldn’t run again but whaddya gonna do
Higgins didn’t lie about donating his salary to charity.
Why would the DFA have put money into this in the first place?
Probably part of their allocation for the welfare of Irish people overseas. Having said that I doubt very much Foreign Affairs were the only Dept to support Pieta House NY INC.
Between the Semi State sector, the Ireland Fund, Clinton & Co and charities with 8 figure assets; I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the DFA had company.
Michael D Higgins said he would only run for one term. He didn’t follow through on his word. what’s the problem here?
If he didn’t run a second time, we’d be left with one of these gabdaws.
yes that’s exactly what we are left with by having MDH on the ballot. Gabdaws every single one of them
I’ll probably just vote for Michael D, but at least one of the other candidates looks to have some sort of interest in representing people and supporting good causes. Pieta House have been great to a friend of mines family.
Sean Gallagher hasn’t got behind any campaign or cause in the seven years since he last ran, because he has a family apparently. its hard to see it as anything but a vanity project for him.
I will not be voting in this pointless election.
Nothing against MDH really but nothing for him either. But besides not embarrassing us (as most if not all of the other halfwits might) not sure why the massive love for him either?
His poetry is shocking bad as well.
He said one term, I voted for him for one term, but at this stage, so long as its not Freeman or the so called ‘Dragons’ I am not sure how much I care about it?