The Abbey Theatre has today published the findings and recommendations of a long-delayed report on its governance, which outlines a litany of unusual practices, “unclear” governance, a “significant failure” in record keeping and poor handling of two issues related to the national theatre’s former co-directors, Neil Murray and Graham McLaren.
The findings throw some light on the events in 2019-2021, the handling of which involved significant payments to the ex-directors, and related legal and other costs which far outstripped the initial payments.
Issues outlined in Crowe Ireland’s independent review also include critical issues being handled by a former board member and a former senior executive after their departures, involvement of the chair in investigations, lack of clarity and responsibility and flawed advice or handling of liability insurance, tax and redundancy.
The board today accepted the report, describing it as detailed and thorough.
‘She couldn’t have done better’: Leaving Cert student with maximum points misses out on college course due to lottery
Coldplay in Croke Park review: Croker loses its collective mind to choruses purpose-built for this kind of night out
Oasis tickets countdown: How the presale works, how to prepare and whether or not to refresh
Two teenagers arrested after Irish chef shot dead outside his restaurant in Kansas City
It investigated events some years ago during the tenure of the former co-directors Neil Murray and Graham McLaren. These included the Abbey board’s handling of the recruitment of new directors, and its managementof three complaints by former employees made in March 2019 about separate incidents involving McLaren.
How the Abbey handled the two issues led to redundancy payments of €63,333 to both ex-directors, and €110,000 to McLaren for “distress and suffering” during the protracted investigation of complaints against him. Payments to the former directors totalled €236,666, but the cost of the investigation and HR process is believed to be have cost more than €1 million, including legal fees.
The full report is not published on the Abbey website today. Instead the theatre has published 12 findings, six recommendations and actions taken, or in hand, on foot of them. The board said it decided after legal advice not to publish the full report as it would breach laws on privacy and data protection, (GDPR) and contractual restrictions and agreements.
The Crowe report findings include an unclear governance framework and significant failure by two committees dealing with the complaints to keep adequate records of the investigation, with no notes of these kept by the theatre.
The Abbey failed to adhere to its own constitution in re-appointing a board member, who played an important role in the committee dealing with the complaints for over a year while he was no longer a board member.
One committee dealing with the complaints had no terms of reference, no written records and no effective way to keep board members informed.
A second investigating committee’s minutes were held by a board member who left and no records were retained by the theatre. The company secretary/finance and operations director, with responsibility for governance, was not informed by the board of the existence of the first committee.
Involvement of the former Abbey chairwoman in both committees left the board with no independent final arbiter. And the board “on occasions” became “more involved in management issues than it would otherwise have wished”.
The proposed eight-week investigation into complaints took over two years, partly due to Covid-19 and absences through illness. There was no revised plan as the original timeline was delayed.
Crowe found “no evidence to support the allegation that the Abbey Theatre instigated the complaints”.
No one appeared responsible for dealing with employer liability insurance, with “considerable confusion” and it was “remiss of the Board” not to explore the cover, which might have covered some or all costs of the investigation and legal advice. It is understood these costs comprise the bulk of the cost of the whole episode to the theatre. A former senior executive was still engaging with the insurance broker at least nine months after leaving the Abbey,
Regarding redundancy payments to former directors after their fixed term concluded, the report said it’s clear Byrne Wallace advised the Abbey there was no “redundancy” within the meaning of the Acts, and that “the Board ultimately decided that it would in fact pay redundancy costs”, but it’s disputed who in the theatre received that advice and whether it went to the board.
The Abbey today also published six recommendations made by Crowe, who noted that many from the board and the executive who were involved in dealing with the investigation and are no longer involved with the Abbey, and new people on both were not involved in these matters. Recommendations include compliance with governance code of practice, employer liability insurance and an independent audit of board culture to see if issues persist on board involvement in management.
The Abbey also published a list of actions taken or in train, including changes to board records, governance structures and culture, employer liability insurance, as well as its relationship with the Arts Council.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
