An Taisce, the environment and heritage protection organisation, has appointed a new chairman to help tackle its financial difficulties.
Charles Stanley-Smith was appointed chairman after a ballot for the position at the organisation's annual general meeting in Galway on Saturday.
Mr Stanley-Smith, a businessman from north Tipperary, took the position from the second candidate, Frank Corcoran, who had been chairman for the previous three years.
Members were told at the meeting that the organisation's finances were of concern. There had been a 40 per cent drop in member subscriptions over two years, down from €116,000 in 2004 to €68,000 in 2006.
Mr Stanley-Smith has served as chairman of the education unit in An Taisce in the past and has been a member of the organisation's council.
He currently works as an IT consultant and was the founder of the software company Piercom. He has also served on the Information Society Commission, which advised the Government on information technology policies in Ireland.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Stanley-Smith said he was pleased and honoured to be elected chairman of the organisation.
He said that An Taisce was much like a small company and he wanted to bring some business organisation to it.
"In the next couple of weeks I want to put together a wide-ranging team, steady the ship and see what we should do thereafter."
He said that the drop in funding was partly due to the non-collection of subscriptions and he emphasised the fact that people could now pay online.
"We will be keeping a close eye on expenditure. It is tight, but we believe it is moving in the right direction," he said.
Mr Stanley-Smith highlighted the successes of An Taisce, particularly the Green Schools initiative.
"There are 22,000 Green Schools in the world; 2,500 of those are in Ireland," he said. "We run the most successful Green Schools initiative in the world."
He said that the Government appeared to be taking environmental issues more seriously and he would be looking for an opportunity to speak with John Gormley, the new Minister for the Environment.
"We are not here to tell anyone what to do, but we are always hopeful that we can help," he said.
