Peter McVerry Trust appoints Francis Doherty as chief executive

The Peter McVerry Trust has appointed Francis Doherty as chief executive. He will take up the role on June 1st, taking over from Pat Doyle who announced in January he was stepping down after 18 years.

Mr Doherty, who is head of communications and housing policy, said the charity’s main focus would continue to be on building its own housing stock, particularly for single people, and argued provision of social housing could not be left to the State alone.

If approved housing bodies (AHBs) like the trust did not step in and directly build housing, people would be staying in homelessness even longer and the sector would instead be left adding more and more emergency beds.

Though the charity works with families too, its main target group are single people with complex needs such as addiction and mental health issues, and young people leaving care. It is the lead charity delivering the Government’s Housing First programme which has a target of 1,319 tenancies with wraparound supports specifically for people who have been sleeping rough for long periods, by 2026.

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Direct-build is “the key area to grow”, said Mr Doherty. In 2021 the trust set a target of adding 1,200 housing units to its stock by the end of 2025. At the midway point it has achieved 60 per cent of this and if the target can be exceeded that would be positive, he said.

“It means we can make a better success of Housing First, continue to scale that up. The cornerstone of the next few years will be to grow that housing piece to make sure the services we have is the best possible place to get supports they need.”

Asked whether he believed the task of providing social housing should be done primarily by AHBs, or whether local authorities should be the main providers, he said: “The view I have is that the trust will be as active as it needs to be in providing one-bedroom social housing.

“When the day comes that there is no longer need [for the trust] to be as active in that space, that will be a good day.

“There needs to be more one-bedroom and two-bedroom, and also flexibility around some of the design so as people’s lives change, they add people and downsize, that our housing standards and design provide for people to do that in situ, in one community.

“We want to get people out of the hostels and into housing as quickly as we can, thereby freeing up beds in the system rather than just adding more and more. We will continue to advocate in the wider housing space that delivery needs to be needs-driven and not market driven.”

He said he was looking forward to the job ahead, adding a huge part of that would be benefiting from “the huge experience, expertise and commitment of the other senior managers and directors”.

In a statement, the charity said Mr Doherty’s appointment followed an extensive and comprehensive recruitment process led by a recruitment agency, with strong interest from across the sector. The interview panel was chaired by Bob Jordan, chief executive of the Housing Agency and included founder Fr Peter McVerry.

Fr McVerry said: “I strongly believe we have found the best candidate for chief executive in Francis. He brings great passion and commitment to this role and understands the unique role that the organisation plays and the need to put the participants first and foremost in all that we do.”

The post is understood to attract a salary of between €110,000 and €120,000.