An extensive ten month inquiry by the compliance and enforcement unit of the Irish Charities Regulator has found no issues or irregularities with the accounts of the Clare 250 Cancer Centre.
The inquiry, which was facilitated by the charity’s management and trustees after they were subjected to sustained online and media criticism last September, was formally completed on July 8th.
Funded by private donations and proceeds from the Clare 250 mile cycle, the Cancer Centre at Ballygriffey was developed to promote the physical and mental wellbeing of cancer patients from all over the county. All facilities are free of charge and the 48-acres of woodland which surrounds the centre serves as a natural sanctuary for patients to rest and reflect.
An estimated €4.8 million has been raised by the fund-raising cycle since 1980. Up to 1994, the proceeds were allocated to a wide range of recipients including the Clare Youth Pilgrimage, Clare Scouts, the Mental Health Association and St Luke’s Hospital.
Most of the money raised since then has gone towards site acquisition and construction costs associated with the Cancer Centre and a church at Ballygriffey.
An additional €1,311,100 was spent on bringing 1,873 cancer patients and helpers on the annual Clare 250 pilgrimage to Lourdes.
After it was confirmed that the Charities Regulator had closed its inquiry and was satisfied with undertakings given by the trustees, additional controls were introduced relating to the segregation of duties to ensure that purchases are approved and authorised by separate members of the management team.
The trustees have also set expenditure approval limits for both the Centre Manager and individual trustees. Separately, the management and trustees are to agree a future direction and succession strategy for the Centre and its assets which will be revised at regular intervals.
Clare 250 Cancer Centre founder Mr John Dunne said it was vital that the founding principles of the organisation were maintained and that the centre remained as a facility that the people of Clare could access free of charge. He added that this could not be guaranteed if the Centre was subsumed into another health service provider.
Mr Dunne confirmed that a timetable will be established for maintenance work and the full restoration of services at the centre.
“The past few months have been extraordinarily difficult for everyone associated with the Centre and the conclusion of the Charities Regulator inquiry has come as an enormous relief. It has taken a huge personal toll on the management and trustees as well as ending all our fund-raising activities.
“Because we are dealing with people who are immunocompromised, the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 had a more severe effect on our activities than those of other organisations. This not only put our activities on hold for a sustained period but also had severe consequences for our finances,” Mr Dunne explained.
“However badly effected we were by the lockdowns, we were absolutely devastated by uninformed and unfair criticism of the cancer centre which not only undermined our work but called our honesty, integrity and motives into question,” he declared.
The Clare 250 Cancer Centre’s audited and approved accounts to the end of 2022 can be accessed on the Regulator’s website, charities regulator.ie, and includes abridged accounts to the end of 2022 which were approved by the Board of Trustees on September 23 of last year.
The charity is also registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), with its full annual returns and governing documents accessible on the CRO.ie website.
A spokesperson for the Charities Regulator said: “In relation to the public statement issued by the charity, we can confirm that the Charities Regulator made enquiries with the charity following receipt of a concern. The trustees of the charity provided information, and undertakings in relation to the matters raised, and the concern has been closed.”