Scouting Ireland

Scouting Ireland
Headquarters Larch Hill
Country Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
Founded 1 January 2004
Founder Richard P. Fortune (1908), Tom and Ernest Farrell (1927)
Membership 50,000
(As of 3 June 2016)[1]
Chief Scout Christy McCann
Affiliation World Organization of the Scout Movement
Website
http://www.scouts.ie

Scouting Ireland (Irish: Gasóga na hÉireann) is one of Ireland's largest youth movements, with over 50,000 members, including over 12,000 adult volunteers; of the 750,000 people between the ages of 6 and 18 in Ireland, approximately 6% are involved with the organisation. It was founded in 2004, following the amalgamation of two of the Scouting organisations on the island. It is the World Organization of the Scout Movement-recognised Scouting association in the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland it operates alongside The Scout Association of the UK and the Baden-Powell Scout Association. It is a voluntary, non-formal educational movement for young people.

Scouting Ireland is independent, non-political, and open to all young people without distinction of origin, race, creed, sexual orientation, spiritual belief or gender, in accordance with the purpose, principles and method conceived by Lord Baden-Powell and as stated by WOSM.[2] The aim of Scouting Ireland is to encourage the Social, Physical, Intellectual, Character, Emotional, and Spiritual development (known as the SPICES) of young people "so that they may achieve their full potential and as responsible citizens, to improve society".[3] The process of founding the new organisation came on 21 June 2003, after a merger between Scouting Ireland C.S.I. and Scouting Ireland S.A.I. was announced, becoming effective on 1 January 2004.[2][4] Its national office is at Larch Hill, County Dublin.[2]

The association is headed by the Chief Scout, and governed by the National Management Committee and the National Council. A small professional staff team is led by Chief Executive Officer, as of 2018, John Lawlor.

History

Plaque at 3 Dame Street which marks the site of the 1st Scout meeting in Ireland

Scouting Ireland has its history in two legacy Scouting organisations — the Scout Association of Ireland (SAI), formerly known as the Boy Scouts of Ireland, and the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI). The former traces its roots to 1908, and the latter was founded in 1927 – both trace their legacy to Lord Baden-Powell's Scout Movement.

By 1908, the influence of Baden-Powell's Scout Movement had spread from Great Britain to Ireland. The first recorded meeting of Scouts in Ireland took place at the home of Richard P. Fortune, a Royal Naval Volunteer Reservist, at 3 Dame Street, Dublin on 15 February 1908 where four boys were enrolled in the Wolf Patrol of the 1st Dublin Troop. The earliest known Scouting event in Ireland took place in the Phoenix Park in 1908 with members of the Dublin City Boy Scouts (later Scouting Ireland S.A.I.) taking part.

Because of the impacts to available adult leadership, the coming of the Great War in 1914 could have affected the viability of Scouting in Ireland. Scouts contributed to the war effort in several ways, with the Sea Scouts supporting the RN Coastguard.

In Dublin in the 1920s, two Roman Catholic priests, Fathers Tom and Ernest Farrell, followed the progress of Scouting. They noted that in other countries, the Catholic Church had taken up the idea of Scouting as a means of imprinting a Catholic ethos on young people. After some study and experimentation, they made a proposal to the Catholic Hierarchy of Ireland and were granted a constitution and Episcopal patronage in November 1926. Thus, the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI) (Gasóga Catoilici na hÉireann) was created. CBSI would later become the largest Scout association on the island.

Although the two associations cooperated, particularly in international contexts, these two separate Scouting organisations (SAI and the much larger CBSI) operated as separate entities through the latter half of the 20th century. On 1 January 2004, the two organisations were merged to form 'Scouting Ireland'. Each organisation had added 'Scouting Ireland' to their names in the decade before the merger.[5][6] The merger was sanctioned in May 2003, when both associations agreed to join together to form a new single association. This in turn had followed from decisions in 1998 to set this process in motion.[4][7]

Scouting Ireland has 50,000 members across the island of Ireland (as of June 2016),[1] including Northern Ireland, where it works in tandem with the Scout Association in Northern Ireland (SANI), which is part of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom.

Sections

Scouting Ireland primarily operates through a Youth Programme, for members aged between 6 and 25 years,[8] divided into the following Sections:

Sea Scouts – Sea Scouting is a model for implementing the Scout Method with an emphasis on maritime tradition, nautical skills and water based activities. Sea Scouting operates throughout the sections, consistent with the above age ranges.

Emblem of the Federation of Irish Scout Associations 1965-2004

Organisation

Scout Group

The basic unit of Scouting in Ireland is the Scout Group. Each Group is based around a single meeting point, often a scout den but sometimes a school assembly hall or community facility, but may have a number of sections, meeting at different times, and may have more than one Scout Troop or Cub Scout Pack, for example. Each Group is coordinated by a Scout Group Council, headed up by the Group Leader and Deputy Group Leader, these roles being appointed by the Chief Commissioner (Adult Resources) based on nomination by the Scout Group Council and recommendation by the relevant Scout County Commissioner. Membership also includes roles such as Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Quartermaster, and adult representatives of all sections, and youth representatives of the Scouts, Venture Scout and Rover Scout sections, made by the Scout Group Council itself. As of 2018, there are around 520 Scout Groups.[9]

Scout County

Scout Groups are members of their local Scout County, some are which based on geographical counties, while others, depending on member density, are based in parts of cities or across county boundaries. The Scout County supports the training of Scouters, the youth programme, and the development of Groups within the County. Each Scout County is coordinated by a County Commissioner.

Scout Provinces

Above the Scout County level, Ireland is divided into six Scout Provinces, namely the Northern, Southern, North Eastern, South Eastern, Western and Dublin provinces. Each Province is coordinated by a Provincial Commissioner, who in turn appoints a Training Co-Ordinator as well as Youth Programme and International representatives. The Provincial Management / Support Committee consists of County Commissioners, Provincial Officers, co-ordinators and representatives. Each Province has a professional Provincial Support Officer.

National Council

The primary decision-making body of Scouting Ireland is called National Council, and it meets at least once a year. National Council is the body responsible for amendments to the movement's Rules and Constitution. It also elects the members of the National Management Committee, including the Chief Scout.

National Management Committee

The National Management Committee (NMC) is the body which guides the association between National Council meetings. It makes decisions relating to policies and strategies, and their implementation on behalf of National Council. The NMC, which includes National and Provincial Commissioners, also handles representation of Scouting Ireland both nationally and internationally. The NMC also drives development of both the youth programme and materials to support the management of adult members and other supporters.[9]

As of 2018, NMC has the same membership as the Board of the not-for-profit company which acts for Scouting Ireland when appropriate.

Chief Scout

The leader of the overall organization is the Chief Scout, who is its leading volunteer and public representative, chairs National Council and the NMC, and other bodies, and makes key awards.

The first Chief Scout elected was Martin Burbridge, the former National Treasurer of Scouting Ireland (CSI). He was re-elected at National Council in 2007 for a second term which was due to end in 2010. For personal reasons Burbridge announced his resignation in August 2008, and the NMC elected Michael John Shinnick, the then Chief Commissioner for Adult Resources, as SI's second Chief Scout in September 2008.[10][11] He was elected by National Council in March 2009, and again in 2012, for a term to end in 2015.[12][13] Christy McCann was elected as SI's third Chief Scout in September 2015.[14][15]

Youth participation

A National Youth Forum is held each year with representatives from the Scout, Venture Scout and Rover Scout sections. Representatives debate motions relating to the running of the association and their own sections. Successful motions are carried forward to the relevant national bodies, including National Council. Each forum elects 9 representatives who then represent the interests of youth members on various committees throughout their term of office (generally one year). Three ordinary members of the National Management Committee must also be under the age of 26 on the day of election.

Other national committees

National groups include the National Youth Programme Committee and the National Adult Resources Committee.

Staff

Scouting Ireland's Chief Executive Officer is John Lawlor, who is based in National Office in Larch Hill.[16] He leads a staff of administrative and support professionals.

Campsites

Campsites and Scout centres in Scouting Ireland may be operated by local groups, with a number owned centrally and managed by Scouting Ireland itself. Larch Hill in Tibradden, Co. Dublin, and Lough Dan near Roundwood, Co. Wicklow were inherited from Scouting Ireland (CSI) and Scouting Ireland S.A.I. as national campsites. Other nationally owned campsites include Mount Melleray Scout Centre in the Knockmealdown Mountains near Cappoquin, Co. Waterford and Castle Saunderson International Scouting Centre, a new campsite in Co. Cavan, as well as a water activity centre in Killaloe, Co. Clare. Locally run campsites include Kilcully, Co. Cork, Collon, Co. Louth, Srahan Scout Centre, Co. Laois, Dundrum International Scout Campsite, Dundrum, Co. Tipperary, and Glendale Lodge, Glencree, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow.[17][18][19][20]

Beaver and Cub Scouts at Scouting Ireland JamÓige event 2016

Participation in international Scouting

Irish Scouts at the 2015 World Scout Jamboree in Japan

Scouting Ireland and its legacy associations have been strongly represented in international forums for many years. As of 2018, Scouting Ireland is the sole World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM)-recognised body in the Republic of Ireland, and works with the Scout Association in Northern Ireland (which also has a Baden-Powell Scout Association group). In 2014, Scouting Ireland won the bid to host the 16th World Scout Moot an international Jamboree style event for Rover Scouts, which is due to take place in the summer of 2021 - it will be the first world event to be held in Ireland.

History

In 1965, CBSI joined with SAI to form the Federation of Irish Scout Associations, FISA. Through FISA, Irish Scouts were able to play a full part in international Scouting. Prior to this, because the WOSM traditionally recognises only one Scouting body in each country, only SAI had been recognised by WOSM (since 1949).[21] Similarly, the Northern Irish Scout Council (NISC) had observer status in the Federation, as CBSI's membership extended across the 32 counties on the island of Ireland and WOSM usually only recognises associations that observe political boundaries.

A number of Irish people have held office at international level, including as Chairman of the European Scout Committee and as Vice Chairman of the World Scout Committee. Howard E. Kilroy served as Chairman of the World Scout Foundation's Investment Committee.[22] In 2001 John Geoghegan was appointed director of the World Scout Foundation[23]

Individuals recognized

Five Irish Scouts have been awarded World Scouting's only award, the Bronze Wolf Award by the World Scout Committee, Edward J. Montgomery (1977), Desmond Fay (1984), Jeremiah Kelly (1985), Howard Kilroy (2010) and Therese Bermingham (2015).

Jamborees

Scouting Ireland hosted Jamboree 2008, its first international Jamboree, from 2–10 August 2008.[24] It was held at Punchestown Racecourse, County Kildare with the aim of celebrating one hundred years of Scouting in Ireland.[24] Around 12,500 Irish and overseas Scouts attended the event.[24] The next Scouting Ireland National Jamboree will be held in 2018 at Stradbally, Co. Laois.

Partnerships

Scouting Ireland has a number of international partnersthips, including with the Lesotho Scouts Association,[25] and with Denmark's largest Scout Association, Det Danske Spejderkorps.[26]

National policies

The organization has a wide range of national policies, largely set by National Council and overseen by the National Management Committee. In addition to policies on finance, personnel, uniforms and facilities, these include documents on the Youth Programme, risk and crisis management, adult resource management, and safeguarding.

Risk and crisis management

Scouting Ireland has a risk management strategy and policy, an anti-fraud policy, a whistle blower policy, and a crisis management policy.[27]

Adult resources

There are policies on adults in scouting, adults working with young people, and recognition for adult contributors.

Safeguarding

Scouting Ireland has a Code of Good Practice, Garda vetting and Northern Ireland access policies, and guidance on reporting, social media and drug incidents.[28]

Controversy

Safeguarding issues resulted in controversy in 2017 and 2018, though the organisation and individual Scout Groups emphasised that operations continued as usual.

2017 review

In July 2017, Scouting Ireland commissioned a review of the handling of child protection cases, which included an initial check on a small sample of more serious allegations. Arising from this review, led by safeguarding specialist Ian Elliott, a recommendation was made in November 2017 that the files on all historic cases of alleged abuse be further checked, in particular to understand if persons against whom allegations were made were still active in the organisation. The review did not make any assessment of allegations, minor or major, but noted areas for improvement in handling such cases, such as "without prejudice" suspensions instead of "voluntary stepping aside" and a recommendation against lobbying by the targets of allegations, which it concluded was happening in some cases. It was reported that there were sometimes tensions between professional staff and volunteers, with the former feeling pressure from volunteers, while some volunteers perceived "heavy-handed" treatment of some allegations.[29]

Scouting Ireland has made changes to its processes in response to the work of Elliott, including implementation of the “suspension without prejudice” concept, pending an investigation, and plans for recruitment of a “safeguarding co-ordinator” and additional child-protection officers.[29]

2009 case

The historic handling of one case, dating back to 2009, and concerning an allegation by a then-18 year old volunteer against an older volunteer, caused particular concern in public and governmental circles, and resulted, in April 2018, in the suspension of the remainder of Irish State funding pending discussions with the relevant department.[29] The Taoiseach himself commented on the handling of this case, and the Irish Times published an editorial on the handling of related matters.

Officers stepping aside temporarily

Four senior figures in Scouting Ireland voluntarily stepped away temporarily from their roles in mid-April 2018, pending a barrister-led review of certain matters. These are the Chief Scout, re-elected earlier in April 2018, two Chief Commissioners, and a member of National Management Committee.[30]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Scouting Ireland reaches a membership of 50000". Scouting Ireland. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 3 "Scouts Link across the Border". The News Letter. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2015 – via Questia. (Subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ "Scouting Ireland Constitution" (PDF). 2014. section 3. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 "The creation of Scouting Ireland" (PDF). World Organization of the Scout Movement. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
  5. ↑ Godison, Lisa (19 May 2002). "Designer Ireland; No 132". Sunday Times. p. 17.  – via Academic OneFile (subscription required)
  6. ↑ "Scouting's future". Irish Times. 10 May 2003. p. 15.  – via Infotrac Newsstand (subscription required)
  7. ↑ McGarry, Patsy (12 May 2003). "Wide welcome as scouts join forces". The Irish Times. Retrieved March 19, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (Subscription required (help)).
  8. ↑ "Scouting Ireland - InSIde Out" (pdf). Scouting Ireland. April 2013. p. 8. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Scouting Ireland - Organisation Structure". Scouting Ireland. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  10. ↑ Martin Burbridge (12 August 2008). "Letter from Chief Scout to the NMC on his impending Resignation". Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "New Chief Scout Elected". Scouting Ireland. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "First Minister meets new Chief Scout". Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE - SCOUTING IRELAND ELECTS CHIEF SCOUT FOR SECOND TERM". Scouting Ireland. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Scouting Ireland official [@ScoutingIreland] (12 September 2015). "Chief Scout Christy McCann delivering his first address as Scouting Ireland's new Chief Scout! #ScoutsIE" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 September 2015 – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ Scouting Ireland [@ScoutingIreland] (18 April 2015). "The NMC will appoint a chairperson for the National Team of Policy Implementation until an emergency national Council is organised #NC15" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 April 2015 – via Twitter.
  16. ↑ "Scouting Ireland appoint new CEO \date=1 March 2012". Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ventact". Ventact Team. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  18. ↑ "Shrahan Details". Roscrea.ie. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  19. ↑ "County Tipperary Campsites". ScoutingIreland.com. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "County Wicklow Campsites". ScoutingIreland.com. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  21. ↑ "Some statistics". World Organization of the Scout Movement. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
  22. ↑ "Annual Report 2010" (pdf). World Scout Foundation. 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "Mr John Geoghegan". World Scout Foundation. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  24. 1 2 3 Campbell, Paula (8 August 2008). "Rain stops play for scouts at Punchestown". Leinster Leader. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  25. ↑ "Signing of MOU". Facebook. Scouting Ireland. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  26. ↑ "Nyt fra korpsledelsen: Irland som samarbejdsland, nye politikker og KRM" [New from the corps leadership: Ireland as a partner country, new policies and KRM]. DDS.dk (in Danish). Det Danske Spejderkorps. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  27. ↑ "Scouting Ireland - Risk Management". Scouting Ireland. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  28. ↑ "Scouting Ireland - policies and procedures - Safeguarding". Scouting Ireland. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  29. 1 2 3 Power, Jack (21 April 2018). "Scouting Ireland faces Pandora's box of historic abuse cases". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  30. ↑ Power, Jack (20 April 2018). "Four senior Scouting Ireland figures step aside". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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