Former CEO of Football Association of Ireland John Delaney

This morning.

Tipp FM is reporting that former CEO of the Football Association of Ireland John Delaney claims he stood down from his role as CEO – only to take up the newly created role of executive vice-president – due to his increased workload.

Mr Delaney told Jamie O’Flaherty on the radio station’s Extra Time Junior Football Podcast that he had been double and triple jobbing on countless projects which prompted the move.

After he was asked about his new role as executive vice-president of the FAI, Mr Delaney said:

“I’m really looking forward to it. The way it’s been with the association over the last number of years has been, in my own personal case, has been trying to attend grassroots football functions and games every weekend and I’ve given my life to that and I love it. I get great energy out of it. I love helping the clubs, I love meeting the volunteers.

“I love, I love grassroots people.

“And then during the week there’s an organisation with a turnover of €50million and 200 staff, so it’s a huge organisation now and then there’s a huge international dimension – I’m on the board of UEFA as it is.

“But apart from that there is a feasibility study to do a World Cup bid with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – there are meetings in England next week on that and that’s making significant progress.

“There’s an U21 bid for the U21 Euros with Northern Ireland in 2023.

“I mean it’s amazing that that round ball, the football can unite two associations in that regard.

“There’s centralised television deals to be done. We’re staring that process of negotiating that with UEFA which is, you know, a lot of money for the FAI which then means a lot of money for grassroots football and other projects.

“And I could go on. There’s the generation of revenue in other parts of the world like America and Australia – the Irish diaspora which we’ve never really looked at yet.

“And they’re just the snapshot of the projects that I’m now, you know, turning my attention to and it really was impossible to do the three jobs I just laid out to you for, for one person.

“And that’s why the association commissioned an independent report, just to split the duties.”

Mr Delaney is referring to a review of the FAI by Jonathan Hall & Associates.

Last week,  Fine Gael TD Noel Rock told the Dáil:

“Six weeks ago, Jonathan Hall Associates was appointed to provide a report on senior management structures and the role of chief executive officer, CEO, as the FAI plans for the launch of a new strategic report.

“No terms of reference have been published to date and, indeed, the FAI has not even responded to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport’s request for that report.

“Incredibly, within six weeks, that report has been produced in its entirety, with no redrafting required and its contents acted upon, via a unanimous vote of the board, culminating in the announcement of a brand new position for John Delaney. This absolutely stinks.”

In addition…

At 2.30pm 3.30pm today, Sport Ireland’s CEO John Treacy is set to appear before the Oireachtas sports committee to discuss the Football Association of Ireland.

He is expected to tell TDs and Senators that in relation to the Mr Delaney’s job change – just days after news of his €100,000 cheque to the FAI broke in The Sunday Times – Sport Ireland were not consulted about this decision.

Mr Treacy is expected to say that although the FAI put out a press release about this role move on the evening of Saturday, March 23 – the evening before The Sunday Times reported that the FAI had been paying €3,000-a-month rental payments for Mr Delaney while he was earning €360,000 – Sport Ireland wasn’t informed of the decision until it received a letter from the FAI on March 25.

Mr Treacy is also expected to say Sport Ireland was neither consulted on the commissioning or preparation of the Jonathan Hall & Associates report and has not received a copy of it.

Yesterday: ‘The FAI Letter Did Not Sufficiently Explain The Circumstances Of This Loan’

Joss Fong from Vox Video Lab explores the far more complex truth behind the Western cultural stereotype of Asian people interchanging the ‘L’ and ‘R’ sound. To wit:

Japanese, Korean, and Chinese  are completely different languages that each handle L-sound and R-sounds differently.

awesomer


From top: Former clinical director of CervicalCheck Gráinne Flannelly; CervicalCheck logo and Minister for Health Simon Harris

This morning.

Representatives from CervicalCheck and the HSE are scheduled to appear before the Oireachtas health committee.

It’s being reported that former clinical director of CervicalCheck Gráinne Flannelly will not appear but she has written to the committee ahead of today’s meeting – saying she advised against the State offering free repeat smear tests following the Vicky Phelan case as she believed there were insufficient laboratory resources.

Ms Flannelly stepped down after the CervicalCheck scandal broke.

Today’s meeting follows reports yesterday that, since the start of the year, some women are waiting 33 weeks for CervicalCheck smear test results.

The normal waiting time was four to six weeks.

The Irish Times reported yesterday:

“The backlog currently stands at just under 79,500, and average processing times are also at their longest since the problem began. Under normal conditions, about 23,000 slides would be in processing at any one time.”

Further to this…

Virgin Media political correspondent Gavan Reilly observes…

The health committee proceedings can be watched live here

Rollingnews

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg (centre) following a meeting at the Merrion Hotel, Dublin yesterday with Oireachtas Communications Committee members, including Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan (right)

We all know democracy’s shook
By lies that are spread on Facebook
But that rather bright spark
Who set it up, Mark
Is wriggling free from the hook

John Moynes

Rollingnews

Yesterday: He Is Among Us

This afternoon.

Paris France.

“We will never abandon Ireland or the Irish people no matter what happens, because this solidarity is the very purpose of the European project,’ said Mr Macron

Mr Varadkar said he would also discuss the Republic of Ireland’s no-deal plans with Mr Macron.

The taoiseach emphasised that the EU should be open to any “credible proposals” the UK put forward about in the Brexit process..

Macron: EU ‘will not be hostage to Brexit crisis’ (BBC)

Pics: Getty

Meanwhile…

Ah here.

Cork University Hospital

A black escalation, according to HSE guidelines, means the emergency department (ED) and other parts of the hospital are in a “critical position and clinically unsafe”.

Seventy patients were awaiting a hospital bed in CUH today, as the hospital experienced high levels of overcrowding.

CUH has catered for 50 or more patients who were awaiting beds for the past three consecutive days.

“Patients are enduring extreme delays which is distressing,” said Dr Conor Deasy, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at CUH.

Overcrowding and extreme delays as Cork University Hospital declares a ‘black escalation level’ (EchoLive)

Pic: Winthrop

Paul Reid, new Director General of the HSE

The Government has announced the appointment of Paul Reid as director general of the Health Service Executive….Mr Reid is currently chief executive of Fingal County Council, a role he has occupied since 2014. He previously worked in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as well as Eircom and Trócaire.

Mr Reid said: “The primary focus throughout my term will be the experiences of the patients and all who engage with us.”

That’s what they all say.

Fingal Council CEO Paul Reid named as new director general of HSE (RTÉ)

Rollingnews

Broadsheet.ie