Although Goal has accused the Department of Foreign Affairs of a vendetta against the agency, the most trenchant criticism of its affairs has come from former staff.

A number of these have recently come together to press for changes in the organisation, to which they are still highly dedicated.

The group is typical of the young, committed and highly educated volunteers Goal attracts. Most say their time overseas was an extremely positive one but one marred by poor administration, bad communication and a lack of longterm thinking in the agency.

"Goal is a two-tier organisation. You have the volunteers working on the ground doing the best they can, and then there's senior management which calls all the shots," says one volunteer recently back from Africa.

"There was no long-term perspective. There's an inability to plan beyond the next corner. All of this good work is being done on the ground, but it's being impeded by senior management," is the assessment of another former "Goalie" who worked in Rwanda.

According to Aodh O'Connor, who spent time in Kenya, there is a need for an organisation like Goal which can respond quickly to disasters.

"But it has to be properly managed under strict guidelines, and there has to be a recognised hierarchy. I'm not out to assassinate the agency but these things don't exist at the moment."

Many of the best Goal volunteers go on to work for other agencies. One told me she left in frustration over the level of consultation in the field: "I'd give the same feedback over years and years, but nothing would change."

She also expressed concern about the way the agency managed money. "I was sent out on my first day to Tanzania carrying £100,000 in cash. This was quite a common way of moving money around."

Vanessa Liston says it is time for a more democratic form of decision-making in Goal. "Why would you stick with an organisation you cannot change or influence? Goal should be turned into a membership organisation like Concern."

Ms Liston worked in a Nairobi school but was withdrawn when Goal implemented the cutbacks last year. Only six weeks before, the agency had promised to pay for extra teachers and build new classrooms. The local principal says she had to move after parents accused her of taking the money from Goal and keeping it.

Goal's chairman, Noel Carroll, says he understands the hurt caused by the cutbacks, and has apologised to those concerned. The agency expanded in expectation of receiving some of the increase in Irish aid, but this didn't materialise.