Today, the Abbey Theatre publicised the conclusions and suggestions of a long-postponed governance investigation, revealing a myriad of irregular activities, vague governance procedures, significant oversights in record management, and improper handling of two matters involving the theatre’s past co-directors, Neil Murray and Graham McLaren.
These findings shed light on the happenings between 2019-2021, where substantial financial settlements were made to the former directors, alongside legal and other expenses that greatly surpassed the initial payments.
Highlighted in the autonomous review by Crowe Ireland were key issues supervised by a past board member and a prior high-ranking official post-departure, questionable involvement of the chair in probes, an absence of explicitness and accountability, and faulty counselling or management of liability insurance, tax, and redundancy.
Today, the board officially endorsed the report, lauding it for its thorough and meticulous detail. The report scrutinises actions that occurred in the past under the leadership of co-directors, Neil Murray and Graham McLaren. These included the board’s methods in selecting new directors and addressing three grievances lodged in March 2019 by earlier employees about distinct incidents involving McLaren.
The Abbey’s handling of the two issues warranted redundancy payments of €63,333 to both previous directors, and an additional €110,000 to McLaren for the “distress and suffering” he experienced during the drawn-out examination of complaints against him. Payments made to the former directors totalled €236,666, but the theatre’s handling of the issues are believed to have cost the State-funded theatre well over €1 million, inclusive of the hefty investigative and legal fees.
As of today, the complete report isn’t accessible on the Abbey Theatre’s website. Rather, the theatre has released 12 conclusions, six suggestions along with the actions carried out or being actively undertaken in response to them. The board chose not to make the full report public following legal counsel, citing a violation of privacy laws and data protection, (GDPR), as well as breaches of contractual stipulations and agreements.
The findings of the Crowe study revealed an ambiguous governance framework and substantial oversights by two bodies handling the grievances. The Abbey Theatre lacked comprehensive records of these investigations due to both committees’ deficiencies.
Mismanagement was evident, a board member reappointed themselves in contradiction to the theatre’s own constitution. Despite not being an active board member for over a year, they significantly contributed to the grievance committee.
One committee, assigned to manage the grievances, lacked reference terms, any written documents, and a viable method to keep the board members updated. Additionally, the minutes of a secondary investigation were held by a board member. After their departure, the theatre did not keep any records. The company secretary, also the director of finance and operations responsible for governance, was uninformed about the existence of the primary committee by the board.
Involvement of the pre-eminent chairwoman of the Abbey in both committees left the board without an unaffiliated final decision maker. It was noted that the board sometimes involved themselves more in management issues than preferred.
The initially projected eight-week inquiry into the complaints extended beyond two years, partially due to Covid-19 and time taken off for illness. A modified plan was not established despite delays in the original timeline.
Crowe’s study discovered no substantiation to the allegation that the Abbey enacted the complaints.
Uncertainty about responsibility for employer liability insurance led to “considerable confusion”. The board neglected to inspect the coverage, which could have offset investigation and legal counsel costs. It is understood that these costs contributed significantly to the overall expense incurred by the theatre. Despite leaving the Abbey, a former senior executive was still liaising with their insurance broker after nine months.
In terms of redundancy pay to former executives after their contract ended, it was clear that legal advice to the Abbey indicated no redundancy within the legal meaning of the Act. The report claimed the board ultimately decided to pay redundancy costs. However, disagreement arose over who in the theatre was given this advice and whether it was presented to the board.
In today’s report, the Abbey also disclosed six suggestions put forward by Crowe. It was observed that many individuals from the board and executive that played a role in the investigation are no longer associated with the Abbey, and the new members had no involvement in these issues. The suggested measures comprised adherence to the governance code of practice, implementation of employer liability insurance, and an autonomous audit of the board’s dynamic to identify if ongoing concerns still exist on board’s management involvement.
Additionally, the Abbey released a rundown of accomplished or ongoing actions. These encompass adjustments to board records, modifications to governance frameworks and organisational culture, application of employer liability insurance, and the revamping of its association with the Arts Council.