The Charities Regulator welcomes today’s appointment of four trustees which it nominated, to the board of Animal Heaven Animal Rescue (AHAR), Registered Charity Number 20082383, to replace four outgoing trustees. 

The Charities Regulator has continued to monitor the operations of the charity since January 2017, when it imposed an intermediate sanction on the charity, for its failure to keep proper books of account.  

Following the charity’s failure earlier this year to submit its annual report to the Charities Regulator by the relevant deadline, as required under section 52 of the Charities Act 2009, the Regulator carried out a site visit in June 2018 during which it appeared that the charity was again failing to keep proper books of account contrary to section 47 of the Charities Act 2009. The Charities Regulator also had concerns regarding governance at the charity in relation to the general management and control of the charity.  

The failure by a charity to submit an annual report to the Charities Regulator when it falls due and the failure to keep proper books of account constitute serious breaches of the Charities Act 2009 for which charity trustees can face criminal sanctions. 

“Given the significant level of funding given by members of the public to the charity, the Charities Regulator took steps to protect the charity by seeking to have four persons with the skills and experience required to manage a charity of this size appointed to the charity’s board of trustees,” Charities Regulator Chief Executive John Farrelly said. 

The Charities Regulator welcomes the charity’s decision to voluntarily agree to implement changes specified by the Charities Regulator.  The specified changes included the appointment of four persons nominated by the Charities Regulator to the board of the charity, one of whom would take over the role of chairperson of the board. 

The Charities Regulator will continue to monitor the charity’s compliance with the Charities Act 2009 and will, where required, seek to further protect the charity using its statutory powers under the Charities Act 2009 where appropriate. 

The four trustees appointed to the AHAR board today, at the Charities Regulator’s request, are: 

• David Hall: David has significant experience in the charity sector. He is a former CEO of the Make-a-Wish Foundation; has previously chaired the Board of the Marie Keating Foundation and is a former Board member of the Beaumont Hospital Foundation;
• Paul Nolan: Paul is a qualified accountant who is experienced in the preparation of accounts, possesses expertise in financial management, and has extensive experience working with charities;
• John Hogan: John has almost 30 years senior management experience in addition to over 10 years experience as a non-executive director of the Citizens Information Board. He has expertise in corporate governance and is a certified Data Protection officer;
• Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí: Diarmaid is currently the CEO of the Carmichael centre, a support organisation specialising in governance for the not-for-profit sector. He has extensive experience in the charity sector together with a strong focus on governance.

For more information: email press@charitiesregulator.ie or contact Eamon Timmins, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, at 01-6331517 or 087-7520978.