Further turmoil at homeless charity as TD withdraws board nomination

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has withdrawn his nomination for a position on the board of Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH), along with two other individuals, amid further governance turmoil in the Dublin inner city charity.

The north inner city-based homeless charity has seen significant upheaval in recent weeks, following a major controversy related to its former chief executive and founder, Anthony Flynn.

It had emerged that Mr Flynn had been suspended from ICHH and that gardaí were investigating allegations against an employee of the charity.

The following week, Mr Flynn, founder of the charity and an Independent Dublin city councillor, died in tragic circumstances.

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Mr Gannon, who represents the Dublin Central constituency, had been nominated along with a number of others for positions on the charity’s board.

However, on Tuesday Mr Gannon confirmed to The Irish Times he would no longer be seeking a position on the board of the homeless charity.

Gavin Elliott, a barrister working with tenants' rights charity Threshold, and Clare O'Connor, who worked for ICHH, have also now withdrawn their names from consideration for board positions.

A number of people with close ties to Mr Flynn have been nominated for positions on the board.

An extraordinary general meeting (Egm) of the charity was due to be held on Monday but was deferred.

It was initially due to be deferred for a week but, in an email to the charity’s members on Tuesday evening, the ICHH said there would now be a longer deferral.

The decision had been taken “due to unforeseen circumstances,” and the Egm would take place at “a future date, to be decided,” the email said.

David Hall had stepped down as chair of ICHH in recent weeks, citing threats to his personal safety.

He previously told ICHH volunteers that the days after Mr Flynn’s death had seen an “unwarranted social media blame campaign”, which had led to “personal safety threats against me and others”.

Mr Hall, who also runs private provider Lifeline Ambulance Service and iCare housing body, is to prepare a report for the charity’s board, which is expected to be considered at the Egm.

Barrister Remy Farrell SC has also been appointed to conduct a review into the controversy.

Independent councillor Christy Burke has taken over as interim chair of the charity for a short period, ahead of the Egm.

The ICHH group was founded in 2013 and focuses on outreach programmes working with homeless people in Dublin’s inner city.