Scouting Ireland () is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 35,000 members, including over 9,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 people between the ages of 6 and 18 in Ireland, over 6% are involved with the organisation. It was founded in 2004, following the amalgamation of two of the Scouting organisations on the island. It is the World Organization of the Scout Movement-recognised Scouting association in the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland it operates alongside The Scout Association of the UK and the Baden-Powell Scout Association.
The organisation is independent, non-political, and open to all young people without distinction of origin, race, creed, sexual orientation, spiritual belief or gender, in accordance with the purpose, principles and method conceived by Lord Baden-Powell and as stated by WOSM. The aim of the organisation is to encourage the social, physical, intellectual, character, emotional, and spiritual development aspects (known as the SPICES) of young people "so that they may achieve their full potential and as responsible citizens, to improve society". The process of founding the new organisation came on 21 June 2003, after a merger between Scouting Ireland C.S.I. and Scouting Ireland S.A.I. was announced, becoming effective on 1 January 2004. Its national office is at Larch Hill, County Dublin.
The organisation, which is registered with the Companies Registration Office as a company, is headed by the Chief Scout, and governed by a board of directors who are answerable to the Scout Groups as company members. A small professional staff team is led by a chief executive officer.
Sections The organisation is known for, and primarily operates through, its Youth Programme, for members aged between 6 and 25 years, divided into the following Sections: Beaver Scouts – Ages 6–8 Cub Scouts – Ages 9–11 Scouts – Ages 12–15 Venture Scouts – Ages 15–17 Rover Scouts – Ages 18–26
Sea Scouts – Sea Scouting is a model for implementing the Scout Method with an emphasis on maritime tradition, nautical skills and water-based activities. Sea Scouting operates throughout the sections, consistent with the above age ranges.
Organisation Scout Group The basic unit of Scouting in Ireland is the Scout Group. Each Group is based around a single meeting place, often a dedicated Scout hall or Scout Den, or may sometimes be a school assembly hall or community facility. A Group may have a number of sections, meeting at different times, and a meeting place may be used by more than one Scout Troop or Cub Scout Pack. Each Group is coordinated by a Scout Group Council, headed up by the Group Leader and Deputy Group Leader, these roles being appointed by the Board based on nomination by the Scout Group Council and recommendation by the relevant Scout County Commissioner. Membership also includes roles such as Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Quartermaster, and adult representatives of all sections, and youth representatives of the Scouts, Venture Scout and Rover Scout sections, made by the Scout Group Council itself. In 2018, there were around 520 Scout Groups, while there were 492.
Support structures Scout Groups are members of their local Scout County, some are which based on the geographical counties of Ireland, while others, depending on membership density, are based in parts of cities or across county boundaries. The Scout County supports the training of Scouters, the youth programme, and the development of groups within the county. Each Scout County is coordinated by a County Commissioner. Above the Scout County level, Ireland is divided into six Scout Provinces. Each Province is coordinated by a Provincial Commissioner, A staff of administrative and support professionals are led by Scouting Ireland's chief executive officer and based in the national office at the Larch Hill campsite.
National Council The National Council was the primary decision-making body of Scouting Ireland from 2004 to 2018 and met at least once a year. National Council was the body responsible for amendments to the movement's Rules and Constitution. It also elected the Chief Scout and national officers.
It was replaced with a company general meeting structure in October 2018.
Board of directors The board of directors is the non-executive oversight body between general meetings of the company. From 2018, it consists of 10 elected members, and up to 3 co-opted members. It receives reports from Heads of Department and has the authority to create structures and appoint heads for those structures.
National Management Committee From June 2003 until October 2018, the National Management Committee (NMC) was the executive body which guided the association between National Council meetings. It made decisions relating to policies and strategies, and their implementation on behalf of National Council. The NMC, which included National and Provincial Commissioners, also handled representation of the organisation both nationally and internationally. The NMC also drove development of both the youth programme and materials to support the management of adult members and other supporters.
The NMC had the same membership as the Board of the not-for-profit company acting for Scouting Ireland when appropriate. the association was in the process of merging with the company with the Board of Directors at the helm.
Chief Scout
The leader of the overall organisation is the Chief Scout, who is its leading volunteer and public representative, chairs general meetings and other bodies, and makes key awards. The Chief reports to the board of directors.
The first Chief Scout elected was Martin Burbridge, the former National Treasurer of Scouting Ireland (CSI). He was re-elected at National Council in 2007 for a second term which was due to end in 2010. For personal reasons Burbridge announced his resignation in August 2008, and the NMC elected Michael John Shinnick, the then Chief Commissioner for Adult Resources, as SI's second Chief Scout in September 2008. He was elected by National Council in March 2009, and again in 2012, for a term to end in 2015. Christy McCann was elected as SI's third Chief Scout in September 2015. McCann was elected unopposed for a second term in April 2018, serving until February 2021.
In May 2021, history was made when Jill Pitcher Farrell was elected as Chief Scout of Scouting Ireland. As a current Rover Scout, this was the first time that Scouting Ireland elected not only a female Chief Scout, but a Youth Member to this role. She was also the first to be elected at a company general meeting, rather than a National Council.
In September 2024, Eoin Callanan, a Scouter from Cork, was appointed as the Chief Scout of Scouting Ireland.
Youth participation in governance A National Youth Forum is held each year with representatives from the Scout, Venture Scout and Rover Scout sections. Representatives debate motions relating to the running of the association and their own sections. Successful motions are carried forward to the relevant national bodies, including general meetings.
National policies The organisation's governance is supported by a number of national policies, largely set by general meetings and overseen by the board of directors. In addition to policies on finance, personnel, uniforms and facilities, these include documents on the Youth Programme, adult resource management, and safeguarding.
The organisation maintains a risk management strategy and policy, an anti-fraud policy, a whistle blower policy, and a crisis management policy.
There are also policies on adults in Scouting, adults working with young people, and recognition for adult contributors.
Scouting Ireland maintains a Code of Good Practice, Garda vetting and Northern Ireland access policies, and guidance on reporting, social media and drug incidents.
History
Roots Scouting Ireland has its history in two legacy Scouting organisations — the Scout Association of Ireland (SAI), formerly known as the Boy Scouts of Ireland, and the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI). The former traces its roots to 1908, and the latter was founded in 1927 – both trace their legacy to Lord Baden-Powell's Scout Movement.
By 1908, the influence of Baden-Powell's Scout Movement had spread from Great Britain to Ireland. The first recorded meeting of Scouts in Ireland took place at the home of Richard P. Fortune, a Royal Naval Volunteer Reservist, at 3 Dame Street, Dublin on 15 February 1908 where four boys were enrolled in the Wolf Patrol of the 1st Dublin Troop. The earliest known Scouting event in Ireland took place in the Phoenix Park in 1908 with members of the Dublin City Boy Scouts (later Scouting Ireland S.A.I.) taking part.
Because of the impacts to available adult leadership, the coming of the Great War in 1914 could have affected the viability of Scouting in Ireland. Scouts contributed to the war effort in several ways, with the Sea Scouts supporting the RN Coastguard.
In Dublin in the 1920s, two Roman Catholic priests, Fathers Tom and Ernest Farrell, followed the progress of Scouting. They noted that in other countries, the Catholic Church had taken up the idea of Scouting as a means of imprinting a Catholic ethos on young people. After some study and experimentation, they made a proposal to the Catholic Hierarchy of Ireland and were granted a constitution and Episcopal patronage in November 1926. Thus, the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI) (Gasóga Catoilici na hÉireann) was created. CBSI would later become the largest Scout association on the island.
Although the two associations cooperated, particularly in international contexts, these two separate Scouting organisations (SAI and the much larger CBSI) operated as separate entities through the latter half of the 20th century.
2004 Merger On 1 January 2004, the two organisations were merged to form 'Scouting Ireland'. Each organisation had added 'Scouting Ireland' to their names in the decade before the merger. The merger was sanctioned in May 2003, when both associations agreed to join together to form a new single association. This in turn had followed from decisions in 1998 to set this process in motion.
The 2010s marked a period of sustained membership growth. , Scouting Ireland had over 45,000 members across the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland, where it works in parallel with the Scout Association in Northern Ireland (SANI), which is part of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom. This number consists of 34,000 young people, and 11,000 adult volunteers. In 2019, the numbers were, over 38,000 were juvenile members, and 12,000 adult volunteers.
Controversies Safeguarding issues resulted in controversy in 2017 and 2018.
2015 death of scout On 6 December 2015, on a Scouting Ireland visit to the coast, 14-year-old scout Aoife Winterlich was swept out to sea. She died four days later.
The visit was to Hook Head, County Wexford, during Storm Desmond. Scouting Ireland did not accept liability for Winterlich's death until 2024 when a case brought against them by Winterlich's mother was heard in Dublin Circuit Civil Court. The court found that Scouting Ireland should have accepted liability much sooner, and awarded €54,000 against the organisation.
2017 review