Since 2018, Scouting in Ireland has been in a flux. We all know the reasons, so no need to rake back over them here. The net effect however has been a mass disengagement by members in the affairs of Scouting Ireland the national entity – currently in the custodianship/grip of a corporate entity named Scouting Ireland Services CLG.
Members of course voted for this change. They did so under duress. A government minister had threatened to withdraw funding from the association. The leadership at the time signalled that voting for this change would solve the problem. The leadership also promised that many aspects of the change not yet written into the constitution (accountability for decision makers, youth participation, democratic safeguards) would be sorted out later. This did not happen.
The net effect of the 2018 structure change has been the creation of a corporate ‘service’ provider with a monopoly. It has full control over the affairs of scout groups and members, yet has no responsibilities towards or obligations to members, youth or adult.
Scouting Ireland Services CLG exists to protect itself. It has staff and has a legal obligation to protect them (which it does). It has a need to raise money to fund its operations (which it does – via member fees and government grants). It can set whatever fees it likes. There is no charter and no service level agreement.
It has no obligation towards scout groups, yet scout groups and their members have an obligation towards it. There is little transparency. The board of Scouting Ireland and the staff of Scouting Ireland frequently act as if they are not accountable to the members who fund the organisation, through direct member fees and as taxpayers.
Yes, there are documents that ‘true believers’ will point at. Lots of ‘reports’, policies on transparency, conflicts of interest etc. Yet, there is a difference between writing something down and enforcing it.
As an example, true believers of the sunlit uplands of Scouting Ireland CLG will point at the ‘volunteer led’ board of directors as evidence of democracy in action. This is not quite what it seems. Candidates for the board are screened. Anyone who looks like they might ‘rock the boat’ (a core duty of a director) is weeded out. In the unlikely event that someone with a mind of their own slips in, they can be removed by the other directors. Sometimes staff (yes, employees!) are involved in the removal of directors (you might want to read that one back. Theirishscouter has seen the written evidence).
This practice will gain official approval if amendment C09 – REMOVING A DIRECTOR is passed at the AGM. The net effect is a very narrow group of people deemed acceptable and the resultant strong promotion of ‘group think’. Hardly a good governance template for a government funded, highly diverse, member owned ‘youth-focused, volunteer led’ organisation?
The only place members have a potential to influence policy of the organisation is at the Annual General Meeting of the company. Motions are screened in advance. Speaking time is tightly managed. If the ‘shareholders’ pass a motion that the board does not like, the track record would suggest it is simply ignored – in flagrant breach one might add, of company law.
Next weekend, the board will seek to change the constitution again. This has been presented as a ‘structural review’ (with lots of member input). To be fair, there has been a structural review. There has been member input. However hidden in the midst of all the bright and breezy chat about bigger provinces, volunteer-led departments etc, is a proposed change that will have fundamental and lasting effects on LOCAL scouting.
Proposed changes to the Scouting Ireland constitution that will go before this weekend’s Annual General Meeting of Scouting Ireland Services CLG, include a rather ambiguously phrased section that could allow the services company to take out loans, using the assets of scout groups as collateral.
Under Motion C04 ‘POWERS’ of the proposed changes, various references are made in section (b) regarding the acquisition of ‘halls, campsites, buildings or equipment owned or used by the company’.
In section (c), reference is made to the company being empowered to procure, receive or accept, administer or allocate, including on behalf of its members, any donations, contributions, funds, bequests, legacy, gifts, grants or subscriptions and bequests to accept any gift of property of any nature, whether subject to any special trust or not, for any purpose within the main object’.
Given the current and as yet unresolved confusion about who owns and who controls what, when it comes to various entities connected to Scouting Ireland CLG (all highlighted in a recent report from the Charities Regulator), including one must assume, the trust companies that hold various scout dens, campsites and other properties in trust for local scouting, scout groups should be very careful about voting to alter the constitution. In doing so, a carefully written and seemingly innocuous piece of text could give Scouting Ireland Services CLG – a corporate entity in its own right and one with no duty of care or responsibility towards individual scout groups – real power over properties it does not own.
This could represent a fundamental and potentially irreversible set of changes that render local scouting properties exposed to liability at a future point, for decisions made in the shorter term by a corporate entity over which in reality, members have no real control or influence (even though technically, the entity is owned by the members).
There is no suggestion that any group stand to lose their den at least in the short term. The board or whoever has come up with this brainwave presumably fully expects that access to any funds secured on collateral will fix the financial issues in the company before any unpleasantness occurs.
There is also no doubt that the individual board members are decent people who are taking ‘expert’ advice and think they are doing their best in a really difficult situation. Two things however: (1) doing their best for whom? The company or the membership? Their job is to protect the company, not the membership or local groups (that is YOUR job). (2) Current members of the board may be decent people, however what happens if less than decent or less than honest people succeed the present incumbents?
Theirishscouter is aware that similarities have previously been drawn on these pages between the Brexit vote and the 2018 restructure of Scouting Ireland.
A bunch of promises and fictions sold to a group of people under duress by a largely self-focused and unscrupulous (or frankly incompetent) leadership, that has left a great and much loved nation diminished on the world stage not to mention weaker, poorer and more fractured.
Take out the word ‘nation’, replace with ‘organisation’ and the descriptor surely fits perfectly?
The United Kingdom is slowly coming round to the realisation that Brexit was bad for the country. The present Labour government under newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham looks likely to commit to undoing the damage as part of the manifesto for the next election.
Scouting Ireland needs to do similar. That will require structural change far beyond what turns up in the presentation this weekend before the strangely rather underpublicized AGM of Scouting Ireland Services CLG. Incidentally, any suggestion that an attempt is underway to try limiting the bulk of AGM attendees to those who like the taste of Kool aid, would be cynical and disingenuous.
It is no secret that Scouting Ireland Services CLG is in a tough financial position. Significant jumps in member fees with no discernible improvement in ‘services’ is one indicator of this. A report from the Charities Regulator (mentioned above) questioning various aspects of how the entity is run and questioning some of the governance standards is another.
The inadvertent leak by a government source to ‘The Irish Times’, reported in an article in that newspaper on August 25th, suggests the government have made provision to ensure the continuation of Scouting at local level in the event that Scouting Ireland Services CLG ceases trading. This is not only another indication of the precarious financial landscape in which the national entity is operating – it is strong evidence that the government is taking this seriously.
Why should scout groups take a risk of this magnitude when there is no upside?
It is hard to see how board members benefit, so who does?
When something is not clear or when trust levels are not where they should be, the prudent option is to reject any motion or series of motions that could potentially place the long-term viability of scout groups at risk.
Theirishscouter is not suggesting that any board member would knowingly try to hoodwink or browbeat members or shareholders. On the one hand, these are decent people, however misguided these constitutional changes might be. On the other hand, it would be illegal. However if a proposal is not clear or has not been explained, members of scout groups need to think of their own interests and the interests of their groups.
Given the provision for liabilities on the balance sheet of Scouting Ireland Services CLG has doubled between the 2021 and 2024 accounts from €5.1m to €11.8m*, the need for funds seems as pressing as ever. Squeezing the assets of Scout Groups presumably now looks appealing, given the registration fees are about as high as they can possibly go (although watch this space…)
A board member was very clear in a (paraphrased) fairly recent conversation with theirishscouter. Scouting Ireland services CLG has a responsibility to itself and its employees. It has no responsibility for members of scout groups. It has no interest in scout groups (presumably beyond their value as a revenue source). It is simply not the job of the board of Scouting Ireland Services CLG to worry about Scout Groups or their individual members. That is the scout groups job. This was not a pejorative statement – it was stated as (and is) simply a statement of fact.
When one looks at things from this perspective, everything takes on a different and yet rather accurate complexion.
When it comes to requests to make changes to the constitution, look at the record of previous boards who have ridden roughshod over the constitution and the tenets of Scouting without so much as a backward glance. Motions put to a past AGM and passed by an 80%+ majority were simply ignored. A later board used the authority of an AGM resolution when it suited. That board sought (and got) member approval to remove two directors – both directors have now been completely vindicated by a Charities Regulator report. Who was telling the truth and who was not?
These 2026 planned changes clearly need to be built upon a very sound legal footing, otherwise why bother asking the members for their support? That alone is a red flag. Delegates to the AGM should come informed and think carefully.. VERY carefully before voting to make changes every scout group in the country may regret at leisure.
If anyone can remember 2018 and the decisions made in October of that year – many of them under false pretences, think about where we are today.
In Scouting Ireland, we have no meaningful democratic power and no way presently to hold decision makers to account. All we have is the ability to reject further extensions of near untrammelled power that further constitutional changes would exacerbate.
If a pre-2018 structure existed today and the leadership needed the help of Scout Groups to fund the national association, the conversation would be very different. The balance of power would be very different too however.
The pre-2018 structure was a national association, directly controlled by the scout groups. Since 2018, we have a monopoly corporation dictating terms and focused exclusively on its own interests. It should not be a surprise that engagement and passion is low. Volunteers feel like badly paid employees trapped in a protection racket. (Of course, unlike employees, volunteers have no rights – another thing that needs to be addressed).
Scouting needs structural change. The same people have been pulling the strings since 2018 and they continue to do so behind the scenes. Notwithstanding the various proposals from the Structure committee this weekend, change needs to start with sweeping democratic restoration and tough accountability standards for all decision makers.
We have tried the ‘taxation without representation’ model. It does not work.
Members would feel very differently if they had a controlling stake in Scouting Ireland. Everyone knows you get so much more out of people when they feel appreciated and more still when they have a real stake in the outcomes. (financial support possibly even from collateral on assets, would likely be on the table in such circumstances.)
It is disappointing to see that the current board are not departing more decisively from the previous board’s ‘command and control’ template. There is so much potential goodwill, energy (and financial support) to be unlocked, but it requires courage.
Why is it taking us so long to grasp this simple idea?
*These figures are from the financial statements of Scouting Ireland Services CLG for the respective periods.
