
Scouting Ireland’s de-facto Head of Youth Programme has tendered her resignation, throwing national programme for 40,000 young people into uncertainty.

Scouting Ireland’s de-facto Head of Youth Programme has tendered her resignation, throwing national programme for 40,000 young people into uncertainty.

The resignation recently of Aisling Kelly from the board of Scouting Ireland after just three months in the role is a blow, but it need not be a catastrophic one.

It seems a little strange to have to use such a title when writing about an association that operates in two liberal democracies, both (for now at least) in the European Union. But these are strange times in Scouting Ireland.

Are senior volunteers really entirely to blame for every ill affecting Scouting Ireland?

The safeguarding controversy that has snowballed into a wider debate around quality of leadership and calibre of management in Scouting Ireland continues and shows little immediate sign of abating.

Another National Council looms and with it, another concerted effort to subvert the democratic process is underway.

Theirishscouter is once again putting pen to paper, after a near twelve-month, offspring driven hiatus that has seen the Flynn-Higgins clan gain a 33% increase in hugs.
Continue reading The Memory of Trees

It is with great sadness that theirishscouter learned of the passing of Colin J Heas.

An unpublished report by an external, independent consultant, seen by theirishscouter unveils details that raise questions about an apparently deeply dysfunctional relationship between some professional staff in Scouting Ireland and the volunteers they are employed to support. The Irish Scouter has received a copy of this draft report and other documentation from a confidential source.

Theirishscouter stood beside a roaring fire in the living room of a 17th century cottage deep in the Wicklow Mountains a few weeks ago. Outside, the rain was coming down in vast sheets, blown across the valley by an icy wind. The valley itself was in almost complete darkness, save for a few isolated yellow dots, where other dwellings clung to the mountainside, between the trees and dry stonewalls.