Peter McVerry Trust appoints interim chief amid financial crisis at housing charity

The board of PMVT announced the appointment of Mr McLoughlin “to provide management services” to one of the country’s largest housing and homelessness charities that will “include functions of the CEO on an interim basis”.

Mr McLoughlin retired from SDCC in May after ten years at the helm of the local authority. The appointment takes effect from next Monday and follows the dramatic resignation of Francis Doherty as PMVT chief executive earlier this week.

Mr Doherty resigned on Wednesday and in his resignation letter warned of the “imminent financial collapse” faced by PMVT. He said he had identified “serious financial trouble, with insufficient funds to meet creditor, payroll and Revenue commitments”.

Two state regulators – the Charities Regulator and the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority – are currently investigating financial and governance issues at one of the largest housing charities in the country which received over €38 million in state funding in 2021.

In a statement on Friday, the board of PMVT said: “Danny has over 30 years management and leadership experience in local government including 21 years as chief executive gaining a comprehensive understanding of public policy and the local service delivery landscape.

“He most recently served as chief executive of South Dublin County Council which has 16,000 homes under management. He has also been a member of numerous housing fora including chairperson of the Dublin housing supply coordination taskforce.

“Danny will bring great experience to Peter McVerry Trust at a time of unprecedented challenge.  The Board looks forward to working with Danny, our Deputy CEO Liz Peña and our senior management team as we all strive to provide continuity of services to our participants who include the most marginalised in our society. 

 Mr Doherty, who was previously the charity’s communications chief, also made a number of claims regarding his treatment by the board of the charity including being subjected to “gagging order” which he said made his position untenable. The charity has not responded directly to his claims.

In further developments on Thursday night, the former long long-serving chief executive of the Peter McVerry Trust (PMVT) resigned from the Housing Commission.

Pat Doyle was chief executive of PMVT for almost two decades until he stepped down earlier this year. He has not responded to calls or texts in recent weeks regarding the ongoing financial crisis at McVerry.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien was informed of Mr Doyle’s decision to resign from the Government commission set up to examine housing provision in Ireland and a possible future referendum on housing.

It’s understood that Mr Doyle informed Housing Commission chair John O’Connor that he was tendering his resignation for personal reasons.

Mr O’Brien has asked the Peter McVerry Trust to confirm that accountants from PWC are to take over the day-to-day running of the crisis-hit charity in the wake of the resignation of its chief executive.