Storm clouds grow darker for Peter McVerry Trust as crisis deepens

For much of the last month, officials, politicians and senior staff in charities across the homelessness sector have been holding their breath and watching what will happen to the Peter McVerry Trust.

The collapse of the charity, one of the biggest providers of homeless services in the State, is seen as an outcome that cannot be countenanced. However, the major crisis facing it is getting worse, not better.

Francis Doherty, chief executive of the trust since June, tendered his resignation early on Wednesday. The details laid out in a scathing resignation letter paint a picture of a total breakdown in the relationship between him and the charity’s board.

Most worryingly for the trust’s State funders and public donors, he documented a “substantial amount of concerning information” such as the “potential mismanagement” of donations, conflicts of interest and “huge” spending on certain properties.

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The claims give a sense of a dam breaking and suggest there is more to follow, but that remains to be seen.

The response of the trust’s board to the explosive claims from Mr Doherty has been to batten down the hatches, adding no further comment other than to say its priority is the continuity of its services.

The embattled directors barely had a chance to catch their breath before the Charities Regulator announced a full investigation into governance and financial issues on Thursday. This is the second such statutory investigation facing the trust, with the Approved Housing Body Regulatory Authority having ordered inspectors to examine the charity last month.

There is a sense of unease now within the wider homeless services sector of what else might emerge, and what the two regulators’ parallel investigations could find.

While it has emerged that the charity was on the brink of “imminent” financial collapse in July, it appears to have been unable to claw its way too far back up from the cliff edge.

At 4pm last Friday, a company which supplies agency staff to the trust said it would be withdrawing those workers as overdue invoices had not been paid. A last minute intervention, with a promise bills would be paid this week, convinced the firm not to follow through.

Efforts to raise funds have included a fire sale of properties, some of which had been homeless accommodation, which it is hoped will bring in nearly €7 million.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has been adamant that all the crucial services provided by the trust will be protected. Reading between the lines, the impression is that emergency funding is likely to be provided if requested.

If a bailout is sought, coming after not one but two regulators opened investigations, and the trust’s chief executive’s resignation, it would be hard to see how the current board would survive unscathed.