Horse charity boss steps down after complaint to Regulator

The chief executive of the Irish Horse Welfare Trust has agreed to step down as a director and secretary of the charity following intervention by the Charities Regulatory Authority.

Sharon Power became full-time chief executive of the trust in 2015. At the time she was already a director and secretary of the organisation, as well as being a co-signatory on company cheques with others, one of whom was her sister Jill Power.

Following intervention by the charities regulator in June, Ms Power said she resigned as a director on June 27th and will step down as secretary as soon as a replacement can be found. She will remain on as chief executive.

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust received more than €140,000 in ex gratia grants from the Department of Agriculture in 2014-2015 and has income of about €300,000 a year. It was set up in 1997 to rehome abandoned horses and retired racehorses. Horse Racing Ireland contributed €60,000 to it in 2015.

Intervention

The charity’s patrons include showjumper Jessica Kürten and trainers Jessica Harrington, Chryss Goulandris and Aidan O’Brien.

The intervention by regulator came after a complaint from former part-time staff and voluntary workers in May.

Elizabeth Moore, one of a number of former part-time workers at the charity’s 68-acre base near Woodenbridge, Co Wicklow, raised issues with the Charities Regulatory Authority regarding Ms Power’s many roles with the trust.

Ms Moore also raised issues about claims the trust had made in applying for aid from the Department of Agriculture. She told the regulator a number of starter horse-care training programmes which the trust claimed to run had not taken place.

Ms Moore also said reduced time was being spent on horse welfare, which she described as “unbelievable and unacceptable”. She said she was representing the views of up to 40 former, voluntary and part-time paid workers who had made complaints to the Revenue Commissioners, a Garda sergeant in Arklow, the Department of Agriculture and the charities regulator.

In response Ms Power said she had been the subject of a campaign of hate mail from a small group of disaffected former employees and volunteers. She said it was a simple matter of fact that the courses had been run and said the charity’s horse welfare was second to none.

Professional advice

Ms Power said she had received a letter from the Charities Regulatory Authority on June 17th raising the issue of her role as a director while being a paid employee.

She said that, while the articles of association of the company also appeared to block directors from paid positions, her clear professional advice had been there was no issue as long as she was not paid for her work as a director.

However, after the intervention of the regulator, she had concluded “it wasn’t worth the hassle” to continue as a director. She had decided to resign the director and secretary positions while remaining as chief executive.

“My salary is €38,000. I am the lowest-paid chief executive in the country” she said. She said she had not “signed a cheque in ages” and would reduce her roles “for one less thing for anybody to complain about”.

A spokesman for the Charities Regulatory Authority said he could not comment on any individual case but it would be issuing “a guidance note” for directors of charities.