The National Parents Council Post Primary (NPCPP), whose recognition was revoked over spending and governance concerns, has officially appointed a new director to its board – two years after she took up the role.
It comes after an examination by the council, which questioned how the organization was run and questioned why two directors had not been registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
Documents filed with the CRO earlier this month show Liz Ryan was registered as a director on the council’s board on March 10. However, the effective date of her appointment has been backdated to January 2021, according to the documents.
Between Ms Ryan, who effectively started out as a director and was registered as a director, five other directors were registered in similar roles.
The council has declined to explain why Ms Ryan was not registered in 2021.
The auditors had also questioned why another director, Mary Lillis, was listed as a board member on the NPCPP website but not registered with the CRO. Her name has since been removed from the website.
NPCPP President Mai Fanning and Communications Director Paul Rolston declined to answer questions about the matter when contacted by the NPCPP last week Sunday independent.
Other similar issues were flagged as causing concern in an independent Council review conducted by Governance Ireland.
The audit not only questioned the use of around €220,000 of government funds, but also how the council drafted a new charter in 2021 that was not registered with the CRO.
The audit said: “There is ambiguity as to which constitution is the working version, the 2019 version registered with the CRO or a 2021 version available on the NPCPP’s website.”
This was a cause for concern as there are significant differences between the bylaws regarding the composition of the board and who can make nominations.
The auditors said an assessment of the governance structures revealed “very little best practice” and “there appears to be a lack of confidence in the oversight and governance of the current board”.
They said the changes meant the board of the council “in its current composition could not be regarded as a body fully representing the entire secondary school parents’ association network”.
Governance Ireland has also revealed how three board members have served and exceeded a maximum tenure of two terms on the board.
Meanwhile, they could not determine if any board member had a child in the secondary school system, as required.
The Department of Education removed its recognition of the council after examiners said the NPCPP had failed to cooperate with their review
The department also cut funding for the council and asked an independent representative body, the National Parents Council Primary, to take over its duties in the interim.
Ms Fanning’s own role in the council’s administration and spending has been called into question after the financial audit questioned payments of €6,499 to her former partner.
Some of the payments made to John Ironside, a photographer based in Co. Wexford, related to the creation and printing of reports on behalf of the Council.
Ms Fanning and Mr Ironside have several children together and previously ran a travel company before the company wound up in 2010.
Records seen by the Sunday independent show that she was previously addressed as “Ms Mai Fanning Ironside” in the minutes of another school council she served on 10 years ago.
Ms Fanning was asked last week about the nature of Mr Ironside’s work for NPCPP and how his services were procured by the council, but she declined to comment.
Referring to a statement the council published online two weeks ago, she said she believed it was addressing concerns raised at the review.
The NPCPP has rejected the results of the audit.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/education/under-fire-parents-organisation-formally-appoints-new-director-two-years-into-the-job-42393787.html Parents’ organization under fire formally appoints ‘new’ director – two years after taking office
