Royal College of Surgeons Loses 150 million in Property Deals with MacNamara and Gannon

[C. Flower]

Irish Mail on Sunday reports that the RCSI ( a charitable trust) has lost 150 million euro, gutting its endowment fund, on property deals with involvement of McNamara and with Gannon.

It emerges that the RCSI has built medical schools in Bahrein and Malaysia and that MacNamara is a beneficiary in the RCSI property company.

Another case for Captain Con's ongoing investigation into Irish charities ?

I fear that we are only just beginning to hear about some formerly viable and worthwhile institutions that have been holed below the water line through meddling in property deals.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

I've been lending some thought to where I go after Quango Hammer and I have tucked away some relevant info on the charity sector I've encountered as I turn over stones to examine the wriggly beasts underneath.

The sector that screams for a Quango Hammer style exercise is indeed the Irish charity sector as there is an unholy smell off it. Its effectively unregulated and shows all the symptoms of corruption.

There are of course charities run well and run right but whether they are in a minority or in a majority is open to question. There are a few I've seen which are an absolute disgrace.

Now all I have to do is clear Quango Hammer before full summer, take a break and think whether I want to really put any more effort into examining the public affairs of a state I'm coming to think should be demolished before it can be fixed.

But the charity sector in Ireland contains some utterly bent actors and organisations. I say that with absolute confidence and in no fear of being contradicted later.