USI trustees move to investigate union's financial controls

The Trustees of the Union of Students in Ireland have made exploratory moves to investigate the financial controls operating in the national union, Education & Living has learned.

The three trustees have taken the unusual step of enquiring into the nature of the checks and balances which currently exist in USI. The move comes in response to approaches made to the trustees by concerned parties in recent weeks, and reports contained in the press.

While the trustees have declined to comment on their role, sources close to the union have indicated that the trustees are "concerned" about the nature of the financial procedures in USI. They believe that there is enough information in the public domain to justify seeking an explanation of the organisation's financial activities.

It is also understood that the trustees are anxious to establish if a full set of accounts is imminent from the national union. The union's regular audit is currently ongoing.

While the trustees have limited powers in relation to what they can and cannot instruct the USI executive to do, it is believed that they are in a position to instruct USI's National Council, the body responsible for policy in USI, to raise the issue of the accounts when it convenes. National Council is due to convene for its next meeting on December 13th.

The USI officer board, which consists of the elected officers of USI, met last Thursday to consider a number of issues. USI's president, Colman Byrne, was not present, as he has been on holiday in the United States for the last two weeks. As a result of his travels, he was also unavailable for comment on this article. One of the issues raised was the fact that USI is paying Byrne's car insurance, a decision which was made without consulting National Council. It is now believed that the arrangement is in breach of USI's own constitution, which provides an established mechanism for dealing with financial decisions of this kind.

It is the second such decision made this year. In October it was revealed that USI had been renting a room in Byrne's flat for £80 per week for use by visiting officers, an arrangement that had also been made by Byrne without seeking the approval of the council.

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