THE Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Console suicide charity’s activities in Britain.
The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has also frozen Console Suicide Prevention Ltd bank accounts pending the results of its enquiry.
The Irish-founded charity, which provides counselling and support for those who are at risk of or have been bereaved by suicide, is being investigated due to its links with Console Suicide Bereavement Counselling Ltd, which is registered in Ireland.
Founder Paul Kelly and his wife Patricia, who was listed as a director, have both resigned from their positions following a Health and Safety Executive audit which revealed that the pair, and their son Tim Kelly, benefited from almost €491,649 (£412,869) in salaries and expenses between 2012 and 2014.
An RTÉ investigations unit also showed a further €464,777 (£390,302) being spent by the family using Console credit cards.
Console was heavily supported by the Irish community in Britain in recent years.
Last year organisers of the London Irish Vintage Rally and Family Day handed a fundraising cheque for £26,650 to Console’s London branch.
Over the past three years the Irish Government has also supported the charity in London through its Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) funding.
From 2013-2015 the charity received a total of £119,700 in ESP funding, although their 2016 funding application has now been put on hold, a Government spokesperson told The Irish Post last week.
The commission said that opening an inquiry was not in itself a finding of wrongdoing.
After the enquiry is concluded the Charities Commission will publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were.
Due to the links between the Irish and British charities, the Charities Commission is examining several key questions regarding the operation of the British-based Console Suicide Prevention Ltd. These include:
- The relationship between the British and Irish charities and whether the British charity is furthering its stated aims for the public benefit
- The financial management of the British charity, in particular how it applies it funds in furtherance of its objects and whether there has been any unauthorised trustee benefit
- Whether or not the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law in the administration, governance and management of the British charity and conflicts of interest have been properly managed
- Whether there has been any misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees and consider whether remedial regulatory action is necessary
