Irish FA Governance Roles

Dear Candidate,

Irish FA Governance Roles: Chair and Vice-Chair of the Disciplinary Committee

Independent Member of the Appeals Committee

Independent Member of the Referees’ Committee

Independent Member of the Audit & Risk Committee

Thank you for your interest in volunteering for a governance role in the Irish Football Association.

This has been a terrific year so far for the Irish FA and for football in Northern Ireland. We were awarded the rights to host the UEFA Women’s U19 tournament in 2017 – we are looking forward to showcasing football, the National Football Stadium and Northern Ireland to all of Europe at this event.

We are delivering a forward-looking and comprehensive Youth Strategy which will guide our youth development work at both participation and elite football or the next ten years. We arebuilding on children enjoying the game from an early age to deliver a sustainable system that will deliver professional football players whose skills, dedication and commitment to Northern Ireland football will give us the chance to qualify regularly in international tournaments.

Under Michael O’Neill’s leadership, we've taken thirteen points from the eighteen available so far in the EUROChampionship 2015. With a two point gap over Hungary in third place, the next round of games will be an exciting time for us and everyone in Northern Ireland.

During 2015 we have been working towards the move into the new National Football Stadium on the site of Windsor Park in Belfast. We are looking forward to delivering world class services to our fans and stakeholders from the hub of this fantastic stadium.

I hope this gives you a flavour of the exciting challenges that we have before us in the coming years. The application pack for these roles is attached below. The closing date for applications is 4.00pm on Friday 28 August 2015. We aim to hold meetings with applicants during September 2015and to make the appointments as soon as possible after that. If you wish to discuss any aspect of these roles in our governance structure, please contact my colleagues, Gerry Crossan, the Director of Corporate Services, at , in relation to the Audit and Risk Committee role, and William Campbell, Head of the Chief Executive’s Office, at in relation to the other roles.

Patrick Nelson

Chief Executive

Irish Football Association

14 August 2015

Section 1: Background information

1.1The Irish Football Association is the governing body for football in Northern Ireland and a founding member of the International Football Association Board, the body which determines the rules of the game as it is played throughout the world.

1.2The Irish FA Purpose Document dated February 2015 is attached at Appendix 1 to this Application Pack.

1.3The Irish FA recognises that the effectiveness of its governance decision-making is critical the maintenance of trust among stakeholders. Table 1 below is an excerpt from the current Irish FA Corporate Risk Register V2.3 dated 16 June 2015.

Table 1 Excerpt from Irish FA Corporate Risk Register
Corporate Risk Statement / In order to manage this risk, the Irish FA relies on its capability to do the following
3 / The Irish FA builds and maintains high levels of trust among stakeholders / Maintain effective Participative Governance arrangements, including annual review of the Irish FA Memorandum and Articles of Association and related regulations, codes, orders and rules.
Maintain effective delegated authorities with clear responsibilities for the delivery of standards, skills and capacity to manage Standards of decision making in governance and regulation
Compliance with safeguarding standards
Levels of safeguarding skills in Irish FA
Levels of safeguarding skills and controls in NI Clubs

1.4The Irish FA is seeking tomake appointments to the following roles in its governance structure

Table 2 Irish FA Governance Roles August 2015 and selection requirements
Irish FA Committee / Position / Essential requirements / Desirable requirements
Disciplinary Committee
(12-15 meetings per season) / Chair / Must not be an Officer of any Association, League or Club affiliated to the Irish FA / Legal qualifications and experience / Knowledge, experience and understanding of football in Northern Ireland and the social, economic and community environment in which football is played
Vice-Chair / Legal qualifications and experience
Appeals Committee
(4-5 meetings per year) / Independent member / Knowledge of the law, education, marketing or people management
Referees’ Committee
(5-6 meetings per year plus sub-group meetings as required) / Independent member
Audit and Risk Committee
(4-5 meetings per year) / Independent member / Financial management, internal audit or business assurance qualifications and experience.

1.5The terms of reference for the above Committees are set out in the Irish FA Memorandum and Articles of Associations, a hard copy of which is available on request. In summary,

  • the Disciplinary Committeedeals with all disciplinary matters;
  • the Appeals Committeehears appeals against decisions by any Club, committee, League or other body with within the Irish Football Association – the members of the Committee meet in panels of the Committees as Appeals Boards under Irish FA Articles of Association;
  • the Referees Committee is responsible for all matters pertaining to referees; and,
  • the Audit and Risk Committee oversees the Irish FA internal control environment.

1.6Normally Committee meetings are held in the evening at the Irish FA Headquarters. These roles are not remunerated, however, travel and other reasonable expenses associated with fulfilling the responsibilities of the roles will be reimbursed.

Section 2: Irish FA commitments on Equality of Opportunity, Openness and Accountability and Data Protection and scope of the Governance Appointments June 2015

2.1Equality of Opportunity: The Irish FA is an Equal Opportunities Employer. It is the Irish FA’s intention to ensure equal opportunity for all job applicants and employees and to eradicate direct or indirect discrimination so that no person shall receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of: sex; marital status; religious belief; political opinion; disability; ethnic origins; sexual orientation; age or Trade Union membership. No person shall be disadvantaged by any conditions or requirements which are neither justified nor required for the job. All recruitment, promotion and training opportunities will be based on merit as measured by qualifications, experience, ability, personal attributes and job performance. The Irish FA will also apply equal opportunity principles to all personnel matters such as pay, staff reporting, redundancy, disciplinary and grievance procedures.

2.2 Data Protection: Data held on our systems is used forstatistical reporting, application assessing, and for contacting you. Your personal details will be held within our systems and our paper files, and accessed only by our staff and appointed auditors. You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access the data held on you by the Irish FA. We view your signature on your application form as acceptance of the use of your data as outlined above.

2.3Everyone who participates in the governance of the Irish FA

(a) is required to declare and register any interests he or she may have in relation to the Irish FA and its work – declarations of interest are a standing item on all Irish FA governance agendas; and,

(b) must observe the requirements of the Irish FA Memorandum and Articles of Association, and all other standards supporting the conduct of governance members, employees, volunteers and service providers, including the spirit of the Irish FA Purpose Document dated February 2015 and any Codes of Conduct which are in place, as amended from time to time.

Section 3: Application form for Irish FA Governance roles July 2015
3.1 Role you are interested in
Please indicate the Irish FA Committee and role you wish to be considered for – applicants may apply for 1 role only. 
Disciplinary Committee: Chair
Disciplinary Committee: Vice-Chair
Appeals Committee: Independent Member
Referees’ Committee: Independent Member
Audit and Risk Committee: Independent Member
3.2 Declaration of Interest
I confirm that I have no actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest that would impact upon my fulfilling the responsibilities of the role I am applying for.
3.2 About you
Title (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr etc)
Surname
Forenames (please underline name by which you are known)
Home Address & postcode
Mobile No:
Other No(s):
Email Address:
Interview Arrangements
Please give details of any special arrangements required at interview.
Declaration
I hereby certify that all the information given by me in connection with this application is correct to the best of my knowledge, that all the questions relating to me have been accurately and fully answered and that I possess all the qualifications which I claim to hold.
Signed:______Date: ______

3.4 Evidence of meeting Essential Requirements the role:

Please demonstrate clearly below how and to what extent you meet the Essential Requirements for the role you are interested in.

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Gov/2015/01 Governance Role Application Pack FINAL 10 August 2015

Irish FA Governance Appointments: July 2015

3.5 Evidence of meeting Desirable Requirements for the role:

Please demonstrate clearly below how and to what extent you meet the Desirable Requirements for the role you are interested in.

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Gov/2015/01 Governance Role Application Pack FINAL 28 July 2015

Irish FA Governance Appointments: July 2015 Ref Gov/2015/01

Application Pack

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This Application Pack has 8 pages.

This Governance Role Application Form is an Annex to the Irish FA standard ifaQ01 Governance and Performance Management (under development)

Appendix 1: The Irish FA Purpose Document dated February 2015 (separate document)

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Application Pack Proposed Final 28 July 2015