Tag Archives: Ireland Funds

From top: Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Speaker of the US House of Congress Nancy Pelosi at the Ireland Funds awards dinner on March 16; Speaker Pelosi welcomes Ambassador Dan Mulhall

March 16, 2022.

Washington DC, USA.

KN writes:

While I wish the Taoiseach a speedy recovery, do any of your readers share my general puzzlement at the sequence of events last week or even care to speculate on what [US House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi meant while introducing Mr Martin [a recipient of an Ireland Funds award]. Remember, minutes earlier, they were dining together and chatting. [Pelosi said]:

‘Congratulations again Taoiseach, and now I would invite the Taoiseach to the stage, but I have been informed that because the Taoiseach is on call as one of the leaders in the world his 2022 international Ireland Funds award will be given to ambassador Dan Mulhall…’

Cognitive decline or something more sinister?

We may never know.

Meanwhile…

“This evening, before we left to come here, all members of the delegation were tested for Covid-19 and the test on the Taoiseach was negative. But because a member of the wider delegation tested positive and while that test was being checked and rechecked, out of an abundance of caution, the Taoiseach was tested just as he left to come here and sadly, that test turned out to be positive. So, the Taoiseach has asked me to explain this and to deliver the speech on his behalf.”

Irish Ambassador to the USA, Dan Mulhall acceptomg Taoiseach Micheal Martin’s international leadership award from the Ireland Funds

KN adds:

When did he get the results? At the dinner table? Before he left? Did Nancy know? Does any of it make sense to you?

Anyone?

Previously: Rain On His Parade

PA/Ireland Funds

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny (centre) with Kieran McLoughlin (left) and John Fitzpatrick of the Ireland Funds at a gala in Washington DC in 2017

Enda Kenny will be the chairman of an advisory council for a private equity group that will invest in Ireland.

The announcement was made in recent days by Kieran McLoughlin, who was previously president and chief executive of The Ireland Funds, a philanthropic organisation

Enda Kenny to be adviser to private equity group that will invest in Ireland (Irish Times)

Meanwhile…

Last year, Mr McLoughlin left the €569,573-a-year post after an audit prompted by the alleged embezzlement of up to $1 million in the Ireland Funds’ Dallas offfice was critical of his governance of the funds.  Mr McLoughlin said a review of the matter “crystallised” his decision to leave.

Good times.

Previously: WTAIF?

Pic: Ireland Funds

John Fitzpatrick, chairman of the boards of the American Ireland Funds and Kieran McLoughlin, who resigned as CEO of the funds last month, at a gala in San Francisco in 2015

On September 26 last.

Kieran McLoughlin stepped down from his position of chief executive officer of Ireland Funds, after 22 years of working with the organisation.

Around the same time, the fund’s chief operating officer Tim O’Leary also resigned.

On Friday,  John Fitzpatrick, chairman of the board of the Ireland Funds, confirmed that  legal action had begun relating to the alleged embezzlement of funds by an employee in the charity’s Dallas, Texas, office.

Ireland Funds is a philanthropic foundation founded by Tony O’Reilly in 1976 to support peace in Northern Ireland. It has reportedly raised $600 million for various causes across the island of Ireland.

The group’s board of directors include former president Mary McAleese, Public Relations executive Caroline Kennedy and members of senior management of KPMG, Paddy Power Betfair, AIB, An Post and ICON among others.

This morning, Aaron Rogan, in The Times Ireland edition, reports:

‘The chief executive of the Ireland Funds resigned after an audit prompted by the alleged embezzlement of up to $1 million was critical of governance at the philanthropic organisation, The Times understands.

Prominent supporters and board members have also raised concerns about the management of the fund under Kieran McLoughlin, who has remained at the organisation since announcing his resignation two weeks ago.

…The initial statement on Mr McLoughlin’s resignation did not give any reason for his departure…

….Mr McLoughlin has since said that he resigned because his contract was expiring and that the Dallas incident “crystallised” his decision.

It is now understood that Mr McLoughlin stood down after he was presented with findings of an independent report into the handling of the alleged embezzlement in Dallas.

It is understood that Mr McLoughlin only reported directly to John Fitzpatrick…’

Concerns raised about governance at Ireland Funds (The Times Ireland edition)

Previously: Kicking It Old School (Broadsheet, March 2013)