Judge approves appointment of provisional liquidator to Inner City Helping Homeless

The Charities Regulator has secured a High Court order appointing a provisional liquidator to the operating company of Dublin charity Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH).

The application was made as a “last resort” in the public interest, James Doherty SC, for the regulator, said.

He said there is “urgent need” for court intervention and the legal test for appointment of a provisional liquidator to North Inner City Homeless Company Ltd, in advance of hearing a winding up petition, has been met “in spades”.

The application was made on just and equitable grounds in the public interest and the interests of vulnerable service users and stakeholders, he said, particularly in light of the “grave” situation in which the charity has found itself.

ICCH was plunged into controversy in recent months after sexual assault allegations were made against its chief executive and founder Anthony Flynn, who was suspended by the company and died by suicide last August.

He had been under investigation by gardaí in relation to two alleged sexual assaults. In recent weeks, another two men claimed they were also sexually assaulted by him.

Mr Doherty said the immediate cause of the regulator’s application was a well intentioned application, initiated last week by Ann Birney, a director of the company, for a court-appointed inspector to investigate and report on its affairs and future. He said the regulator had been examining its options prior to that.

Withdrawn

Ms Birney, in light of the regulator’s intervention, withdrew her application and there was no opposition to the regulator’s application.

In an affidavit, Helen Martin, chief executive of the regulator, said she became aware on July 28th last of a concern relating to alleged sexual assaults by a member of the company on vulnerable service users. She forwarded that complaint to gardaí on July 29th and also sought certain information from the company.

Additionally, Ms Martin said there was regular contact with the company about concerns over its ongoing governance and the board’s ability, for reasons including the resignations of its chair and trustees, to oversee its operations.

She said it was difficult to see how an inspector’s report could have produced recommendations that would have salvaged the company’s reputation, which Ms Birney had described as being “in tatters”.

The appointment of a provisional liquidator would give the company’s three employees and 100 active volunteers certainty about their position, she said.

The liquidator would also give vulnerable service users information about other options available to them and take measures to preserve the company’s assets, including the €700,000 in its bank account.

Cash transferred

Her primary concern was to ensure the company’s cash resources, arising from charitable donations, are secured and transferred to the greatest extent possible to another charity with similar purposes.

Granting the application, Ms Justice Mary Irvine said she was “absolutely satisfied” that the regulator had met the legal threshold for appointment of a provisional liquidator and there were “compelling” reasons and an abundance of evidence to support this.

The judge appointed Kieran Wallace as provisional liquidator. She said it was “highly likely” that the company would be wound up when the petition is heard next month, particularly in circumstances where it was not objecting and had itself considered the same option in September.