Our recent article exploring into the absence of presidential elections for the past two terms, both secured by Fintan Lyons, the longstanding president of Olympic Handball Ireland, extending over a period of 16 years, has provoked responses within the organization.
The secretary, Michael Moloney, addressed the issue by sending an email to the affiliated clubs on Saturday, 4th May, extending apologies and providing explanations for the situation.
“Dear Club President,
Dear Club official,
Dear Handball friends,
Please forgive the email on a bank holiday weekend, but given the article published on the internet earlier today, I felt that you all deserved a prompt response.
Less than a fortnight ago I received an email from a member of the handball community with a list of questions, some of the clubs and a number of individuals were copied in the email.
The questions ranged from Beach handball to the refurbishment of the hall in Ballymun to the constitution of OHI. I answered the questions as best I could within a day or two.
I then received a question from another member of the handball community regarding the length of term of the President and when the position was up for re-election and when the last Presidential election was.
It was in answering this question that I discovered that there had been a massive governance error with the absence of an election for the position of President/Chairperson in 2020.
As Secretary of the association I am responsible for the order of business at the Annual General Meeting and I compounded the error by thinking 2024 was election year for the role, when it should have been 2023.
There was never any attempt by the Board or I to mislead the membership, it was human error for which I assume full responsibility, no one is more disappointed with the situation than I am.
The article also states that the OHI is less than fully transparent when appointing members to the Board and may not follow proper procedures. In 2023 we appointed a Director of Marketing who was a member of the handball community and approached us to offer her more than 10 years of experience in the area. As a result we were able to successfully roll out the rebrand of the association and increase our social media reach.
Last month we appointed 2 new members to the Board from outside the handball community as is best practice as there are no conflict-of-interest issues. Both individuals, both volunteers were recruited with the assistance of Boardmatch. Boardmatch is an Irish charity that specialises in not-for-profit board recruitment, they connect individuals who are interested in volunteering their skills with organisations that have board vacancies. One of the individuals appointed is the Accounting Director for a multi-national pharmaceutical company while the other is a former Director with Hockey Ireland.
OHI had advertised for the position of Treasurer in February 2023 on its website and failed to receive one application from the handball community.
The Board of Olympic Handball Ireland are due to meet in the very near future where the issue will be addressed and following on, I will be in contact with you once again.
In the meantime, I apologise once again for the errors that I have made, I will continue to work on the promotion and development of handball in Ireland to the best of my ability.
Enjoy the remainder of the bank holiday weekend.
Yours in handball.
Michael
Michael Moloney
Secretary General
Olympic Handball Ireland”
It's strange that two presidency terms have been missed since 2017, and now, coming up with the explanation that was a “massive governance error” and a "human error".
Can we truly accept the excuse of "human error"? If he believed the election was scheduled for this year, 2024, then why does the current president claim that the secretary declared there were no nominations for president at last year's AGM, implying his re-election? If there indeed was a "human error", would the president who named himself, be so confident about his re-election and the secretary's announcement? Would that be done only by himself?
Does it really make sense that the “error” has been ongoing for 7 years?
The constitution precisely outlines the duration of terms, and it's noteworthy to acknowledge Michael Moloney's 15-year tenure as the assosications's secretary.
The Technical Director's position was remembered in both 2020 and 2023, as the three-year term came to its end, but not the presidency. These are two positions that should have been up for re-election at the same year, however, is explained by the secretary as just an error.
Also, upon reviewing all the AGM notices and minutes since 2017, it has been observed that in 2017, the Technical Director was not announced for re-election either.
Unfortunately, we don't have access to AGM minutes and notes before 2017. However, if anyone would like to share them, we would be grateful to delve deeper into them for a more thorough analysis. With that said, if anyone has anything to share, don't hesitate to contact us. Dare to speak up if you want a change.
The Technical Director position in 2017, faced the same situation as the last 2 presidency terms: not announced to the clubs, allowing Andrea Ongaro to retain the position without any concern. What do you think? Is this also considered a “human error”?
Andrea Ongaro, besides being the Technical Director, he’s also the head of referees and head of coaches, president and co-founder of Astra club and women’s coach of his club.
In 2020 and 2023, the Technical Director position was only announced to clubs management, only the title without the position's description, allowing Andrea Ongaro to maintain his status within the OHI for the past 12 years, as no one decided to put any nomination.
Furthermore, as was noted during the 2023 AGM, individuals are assuming positions within the OHI without any induction or supervision, placing significant pressure on them and leading them to withdraw permanently from the board or from the sport.
We would have to consider, how a new person could apply for the Technical Director position if they don't know what is required? Would you apply for a job without knowing what is expected of you and how to fulfil those expectations? And, most importantly, if you would not be provided induction and support?
Olympic Handball Ireland, that become compliant with the principles and practices of the Government’s National Sports Policy, missed keeping in mind the following:
“If involving volunteers, put a volunteer policy in place. This policy should cover:
• recruitment;
• induction;
• support;
• supervision; and
• what happens if problems arise.”
When discussing recruitment, we refer to job description, actively seeking out and attracting individuals to fill positions, especially when we talk about volunteers and as the board always complains “if we don't have enough money”. This process hasn't been implemented in Irish Handball so far, however there are complaints about not having enough people. As the active president, Fintan Lyons says, because of that, Peter Caulifield has remained in his position for the last 10 years as an ordinary board member where the main responsibility is in making decisions at the board level, even though it hasn't been announced for re-elections.
Similarly, in the case of Andrea Ongaro, who holds three positions in the OHI along with being president and coach of one of the clubs. Despite the multitude of positions that Andrea Ongaro holds, it's not considered a conflict of interest.
In the case of João Ferreira, not only holds the position of Operations Director, but is also part of the Coaching Committee, along with Andrea Ongoro.
We have huge open questions about the rest of the board members positions that, throughout these years, barely been up for re-elections even so, in the constitution is clearly mentioned only the 3 years term.
In many instances over the years, the handball community has not been directly involved, as evidenced by the assosiations's use of the Boardmatch platform, where active members are unaware of these open positions and not even aware of this platform.
The secretary is explaining his reason for using the platform is because "there are no conflict-of-interest issues", however, the positions published there do not even consider this idea of conflict of interest. The real conflict of interest has been present for quite a few years inside the OHI, and as this question was addressed to the president already, we are including here the questions and answers from the chat flow we had.
One issue that has been raised between the members is the conflict of interest regarding Andrea Ongaro's position, holding triple positions in the OHI. What do you say about this fact, and how can it actually bring benefits to the development of handball inside the OHI and outside of it?
“Well, first of all, I don't know I'd agree with your characterization of conflict of interest, but put that to one side.
So, we've taken three new board members on. We have three new, as far as I'm concerned. She's still new, Daniela…”
Yes, but it's nothing related to the Andrea positions what you're mentioning.
“Yeah, so, what has happened is… we have to discuss the structure, and I've already asked the board to look at the structure, and we need to identify and split out responsibilities a little bit more. And I'd be really happy to do that, but I think we need to find the right people to take those positions.”
And do you think that is really missing having skilful people that would know about coaching, about referees, about technical director also, why not?
“I'm a little bit puzzled by your point.
Okay, yes. I mean, obviously, whoever comes on the board, if they have prior experience of being on a national government body in those positions, that would be very… and again, they have a handball background, then we'd be very interested.”
And my question is now related to the positions. For example, if a position on the board were to become vacant, would that position be publicly advertised on social media, the website, and be truly open to the public eye?
“Obviously, yeah!”
Well, that actually did not happen last season with the technical director position. There was just an email sent to the clubs announcing only the position and that's all.
“When you say publicly, first of all, we look for nominations for positions. So if a position is coming up for nomination on the board, then, you know, for example, again, I come back to the AGM.
Every year at the AGM, if somebody is coming up for re-election, or somebody is coming up for the end of their term, then the clubs are asked to nominate somebody. If they want to put a nomination there.
So you know, the thing this question about Andrea is relatively new in the sense that I’m not clear if we ever had anybody come out. No clubs, and no members, put themselves forward for any of these positions, when they've been open. When you say about open, I mean we put it out to the membership.”
Then how would the OHI actually like to develop in terms of skills if you are not posting and asking for volunteers who have experience in different kinds of positions, especially those familiar with handball? Because there hasn't been anything made public.
“Okay! How are we'd like to develop this? Through the use of committees.”
So, even if they are lacking in skills and have no idea about the position they are taking...
“No, no. I'm not sure. Sorry, I must have missed something there. You asked me how do I see it developing?”
Yeah, how do you see the development of OHI and not just the OHI, but also of handball? Because from the OHI starts developing handball with skilful people who know well what handball means, and for other positions that don't require handball skills?
“Okay, so the simple answer is, we need more clubs. Okay, the simple answer is we need more adults playing.”
We're talking about skilful people who understand handball, not just adults playing, but individuals who can organize and create something for development.
“I'm just making the point that first of all, the sport, the membership drives the development of the board and core drive the development of membership.
You can't say, okay, you've got a Federation and the members are, you know, the members are the members. We can bring outside expertise, and who's going to identify this outside expertise? Who's going to decide that these outside experts are?
So, at the moment we have Caroline and João, are both ex-handball players.
So when it comes to selecting people for the sport, we can bring in people and we can employ people. We can employ whoever we want to take whatever positions we need to be filled, as long as we have the money and the funding to do so. We've been very lucky with funding in the last couple of years, and that's enabled us to increase the number of people that are applying.”
Why are you not searching for experienced coaches, experienced referees, and not just a person that wants to take the position? And we're going back to the fact that I have started with, the multitude of positions that Andrea took. And it's not about that we're not having people, because we are having people, but how actually these positions are open for the public eye in getting the right person that has knowledge, has passion, and wants to volunteer. Because it's not about that we're not having skilful people, what we have here is a lack of communication and in letting them know that they can apply too.
“Look, all I can say to you is we can only work on the basis of what's possible given the amount of time we have in, you know, as ourselves, as volunteers. So the board is entirely voluntary, right? And what's needed, I think, we need more committees below us. So, for example, you talk about the development of referees. So this year we want to bring in somebody to help develop the referees.”
And why, actually, did Andrea take the position if he's unable to be taken care as the head of referees position? Why, Andrea, and I'm coming back to the same question, why does he have three positions in the OHI and not open the doors for other people who are skilled and able to create different kinds of plans and strategies?
“I don't disagree with the basic idea that you're putting across, that it should be one person focus on one area and that should be the way to do it. So, I think for the future, that's what we will be focusing on.”
You will, so there's not going to be changes in the very near future.
“Well, I think it depends really on how fast we can develop the club game because essentially the club game is going to drive everything else. If we have a stronger club game, that's going to... We'll have more people involved with a handball background.
At the moment, we’re only 4, possibly five men's teams that can actually play each other in Ireland. We need at least another ten clubs.
I can’t see, why don't we have a club based in Galway, for example? Why don't we have a team based in Limerick? Why don't all the main cities have a handball team? And I think that's a strategy we should be aiming for.”
I'm coming back to the question because I see you don't answer my questions. Is that okay, and how is it possible that Andrea has three positions, and why do you think that this is not conflict of interest?
“It's only possible because we have a very small... We have a very small federation.”
It is, and then why was not posted publicly?
“By the way, I'm answering your question. You might not like the answers. I am answering your questions. The fact that you don't like the answers, that's your problem.
The way it is, I would prefer that there were three people with those three positions. That's my answer to you. How we get to that point? I don't know.
I want more people involved but the way I'm just telling you, as putting my chairman or president's hat on, how I will work to make sure that happens.
We need to set up committees that other people can join, other volunteers can join and if you have a subcommittee to the board, then you have a chair of the subcommittee. That gives us an opportunity to create a structure that people can engage with. And believe it or not, not having a structure is not a good idea when we go to volunteers. We need volunteers to engage with a structure. A structure is absolutely fundamental to the success of the organisation.”
And I'm coming back again. What do you think about the idea of publicly posting the positions with clear descriptions, not just about volunteering and helping with the referees, but also specifying roles such as head of referee, head of coach, and not assigning all of these to Andrea, who, sorry, but has other responsibilities too.
I remind you, if for yourself it's not a conflict of interest, for me and many others in the league, it's a clear conflict of interest. Not only that, it also goes against the development of handball and also the fact that people don't trust you as an organization.
“Okay, so this is good feedback. I'll use this as feedback. I will discuss this with my colleagues and see what we can do.”
It is curious to examine how much experience each board member had when they assumed their positions in Olympic Handball Ireland.
Previously, experience was not required, as we know well how engineers are having important roles inside the OHI.
So, why would someone now be discouraged simply by a lack of experience? Is Olympic Handball Ireland a place that promotes inclusivity for those who want to help? Why is experience required when induction, support, and supervision should be offered instead to volunteers, as the Government’s National Sports Policy requires?
While the lack of recognition for the sport in the country, the 5 clubs registered for the league are struggling to maintain their activities, another 2 that are not able to compete and 1 that has been founded just last month, and the junior league is non-existent, the current president is mentioning hiring people.
During the last AGM, a big fuss was created around the fact that there is not enough money. This time, however, there is talk of hiring people ”as long as we have the money and the funding to do so”.
We are wondering, as long as there are funds, why the clubs who keep the sport alive in the country are not supported, and why not starting to work on a junior level to develop the sport? If every small action done inside the OHI needs to be paid for, then we are not talking about a sport based on volunteers but rather on full-time, part-time and casual hiring of people.
Yes, money is important. However, if we are talking about a sport with limited funds, we can't afford to pay everyone who comes in. Not only that, we have to consider the information confirmed by PhD Domenico Crognale, who has been collaborating with OHI since 2021 and attends international conferences to present his expertise in Sport & Exercise Science. If such travels need to be paid for from the grants and funds that OHI receives, or if the president or any other board member's travels need to be covered, then it's no wonder that there is no evolution in terms of clubs across the country or the junior league. Everyone who gets money, should stop promoting the idea that the positions taken are solely volunteer roles.
To be remembered that a volunteer is someone who offers their time and skills to help others or contribute to a cause without expecting payment in return or other benefits.
To volunteer is in the interest of the development of handball, especially now when we know the sport is struggling to be maintained in the country. Being paid for everything you can offer is stopping the evolution, the handball players who would like to continue playing a sport they enjoy, the children who could find joy in exercising through practising handball and not other sports.
To be paid in the current situation is an act of selfishness, not just towards the overall situation that the sport is facing, but also towards the management of clubs, each of which is keeping the OHI surviving and which have no support.
Having people with multiple positions in OHI is not considered a conflict of interest because "we are very small." Despite this realization, asking publicly and allowing each past or active member the possibility to apply for it, seems to have been and still is, hard to do so.
"How we got to that point? I don't know. I want more people involved." If there was a clear intent to involve more people, announcements would be made to its members, active online presence of such positions would be needed, and many other roles would be published. None of these actions have been taken, and having the Boardmach platform with only a few roles published secretly, as are not even announced on the official channels, does not seem like a transparent act to be proud of, but rather a fact that needs to be realized and changed if the main goal is to develop the sport overall.
Fintan Lyons, says that "I think it depends really on how fast we can develop the club game because essentially the club game is going to drive everything else." But what is interesting is how all the focus goes on the clubs—clubs that haven't received any financial, administrative, or equipment support. Even regarding equipment, club members are complaining about how some clubs receive, for instance, balls from the European Handball Federation or International Handball Federation though OHI, while others are left aside and receive none.
We have to remind ourselves that we have had the same president for the last 16 years, who for the last 2 mandates has kept the position despite the fact that his post was not announced for re-election and who keeps looking up at the ladder of development, the clubs, clubs that haven't been supported.
The idea of "how fast we can develop" should not be placed on the clubs' shoulders, but on Olympic Handball Ireland, where the money needs to be carefully used. Implementing transparent activity reporting of all actions taken and openly allowing people to help and receive support once they take on a responsibility in the organization is crucial. Moreover, proper organization and supervision of each person who assumes roles in OHI are necessary. Support and supervision of activities are essential to ensure that work is done properly, people are learning what needs to be done, and to maintain an environment welcoming to everyone who wants to help and work together.
The president was asking “Why don't we have a club based in Galway, for example? Why don't we have a team based in Limerick? Why don't all the main cities have a handball team?” The answer can be found above, and to add to that, there are the poor strategic plans that have been in place for the last 16 years, alongside the lack of school competitions before COVID and overall activities.
Our analysis of the email received and President Fintan Lyons' explanations on various aspects of Irish handball will continue tomorrow in the second part of this article. Stay tuned for more insights!
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