MAJOR SHOCK AS FORMER BÓTHAR CEO FOUND DECEASED

Controversy continues for Limerick-based farming NGO Bóthar with the discovery of founder and former CEO Peter Ireton deceased at his home on Monday morning.

Mr Ireton’s body was discovered at his home in Castletroy on Monday morning and taken for autopsy at Limerick University Hospital. No other person is being sought by Gardaí in connection with the tragedy.

Mr Ireton (69) founded the farming charity in 1990 that donates livestock to struggling rural families in developing countries. Two weeks ago, Mr Ireton’s successor as CEO of Bóthar, Mr David Moloney, from Newport in Co Tipperary, had his assets frozen by a High Court injunction as the board of the charity accused him of misappropriating €465,000 in charitable donations.

Mr Moloney was CEO of the charity for eight years. He resigned his position in February.

Court affidavits on behalf of Bóthar also claimed that Mr Ireton continued to be in receipt of ‘ substantial payments’ following his retirement from the charity in 2011. However, Mr Ireton claimed, when contacted by a newspaper, that he had not retired in 2011 and had remained a staff member until 2015.

One farmer from the Burncourt area who regularly worked with charity said the news of Mr Ireton’s death was a shock and that he felt ‘very let down’ by the allegations of misconduct at the charity.

“I would have reared a heifer calf and then when she was in-calf she’d be shipped to a family in Rwanda. They would get the heifer and then if the calf was a heifer, they would pass that on so lots of people could benefit from the milk.”

The farmer, who does not wish to be named, said misappropriation of funds from a charity was ‘a betrayal of trust’ and that the people most impacted were the most vulnerable - families in developing countries.

“If there has been dishonesty, people will be less inclined to support the charity and the people who will suffer will be the people who would have received the animals,” he said.

Bóthar declined to comment on the specifics of the emerging situation, releasing a one-line statement saying “Bóthar is very saddened to learn of the death of one of its founders, Peter Ireton.”

With regard to the ongoing High Court action against Mr Moloney, Bóthar has suspended all fundraising activities at present while an investigation is conducted both by Bóthar’s board and by the Charities Regulator, which began a statutory investigation into the NGO in October 2020.