Foróige is committed to effective, accountable and transparent governance. We are a registered charity with the Charities Regulator (20007812). We adhere to the principles of the Charities Governance Code namely: advancing our charitable purpose, behaving with integrity, leading people, exercising control, working effectively and being accountable. Foróige is fully compliant with the Charities Governance Code.

Foróige, the National Youth Development Organisation was established as an association in 1952. In 2014 Foróige was restructured to become a Company Limited by Guarantee (CRO Number: 568344) Foróige is governed by our National Council (Company Members) and Board of Directors (Charity Trustees).

The National Council consists of elected representatives of Club Volunteer Leaders (minimum 26), Project/Programme Volunteer Leaders (16), Specialist Volunteers (5) and Young People (16).

The Board of Directors is elected from the National Council and consists of:

• 6 Club Volunteer Leaders
• 3 Project/Programme Volunteer Leaders
• 5 Specialist Volunteers
• 2 young people (observers, under the age of 18)

The Board directs Foróige’s affairs based on a shared vision, mission and values, ensuring that Foróige fulfils its financial and legal responsibilities. It decides on the policy of Foróige and the strategic direction it will take.

Board members are volunteers and are not remunerated for their work. They serve a maximum of two two-year terms, ensuring that skills and ideas are regularly refreshed.

The CEO reports to the Board of Directors.

How Young People Participate in Foróige’s Governance Structure

Foróige is committed to involving young people in the governance of the organisation and enabling them to influence decisions that affect them. Every year, Foróige host a number of regional youth participation conferences and seminars. Young people from Foróige clubs attend a regional conference while young people from Foróige projects, programmes and services attend a regional seminar. At these events, young people have a distinct opportunity to influence decisions made in Foróige that affect themselves, their club/project/service, their county or region and the national organisation. Young people are elected each year at Regional Conferences and Seminars to represent their peers on the organisations’ Reference Panel.

The Reference Panel is a representative body of all young people in the organisation. They meet a minimum of twice a year to; bring forward representations regarding Foróige from the Regional Conferences and Regional Seminars, influence organisation decisions that affect young people, produce a report on their activities and advocate on behalf of the Organisation.

Furthermore, of the maximum 64 members of the Reference Panel, the young people elect 16 of themselves onto the National Council of Foróige. This number equates to eight young people from Foróige clubs and eight young people from projects, programmes and services. These 16 young people form the Youth Sub-Group of the National Council, who meet a minimum of four times per year to progress the agenda set by the Reference Panel. At the AGM, the Youth Sub-Group members elect two of their fellow peers to be members of the board of Foróige.  The two elected members will become observers to the board, however, should they turn 18 during their term on the board, the youth representative(s) become a director of the organisation. Foróige’s commitment to youth participation ensures that young people’s voices are represented at the highest levels of governance in the organisation.