YBIG mandate - Sign up here - You Boys in Green Forum

They don't allow phones into the Joy.

the mandate committee are getting as bad as the FAI for issuing statements LOL

Sign me up please

Linzark

just signed , keep up the good work lads Clap

There's no point being the richest man in the graveyard

Well done on the submission Thumbs Up

Since our update last month and following agreement with our committee, YBIG Mandate have been engaged with a process with the two other supporters groups, Irish Supporters Network and CRISC, who submitted to the Sport Ireland / FAI Governance Review Group. All three had given commitments to working towards an agreed Supporters Forum within our submissions which was noted in the final report. A copy of the framework document we have been working on is attached with this mail.

The below communication has been agreed by all three groupings.

In the report, Supporters have been allocated two council seats on the new expanded council. Our two seats fall into the 'Other Groups' category with the FAI Schools, Defence Forces FA, Irish Universities Football Union, Colleges Football Association, Football For All, Irish Soccer Referees Society, Referees Committee and the PFAI. There are a total of 13 council seats across that group who, as a whole, are entitled to agree one member to take a seat on the FAI board.

As there were only two council seats allocated for supporters across three groups, we had been working on reaching agreement as to who would be nominated for those seats.We informed the FAI on Tuesday 9th July of the contact details where correspondence to all three groups should be issued to enable us to move forward. As a deadline date of 1st September had been detailed within the GRG report, this was the date we were aiming at.

This changed last week, when we were made aware on Tuesday 16th July, that the other constituents within that 'Other Groups' had received correspondence the previous day requesting that they "submit, collectively, your nominee to the Board of the FAI....by 5.30pm on Wednesday 24th July 2019." We were also informed that those constituents that, like ourselves, were not previously represented on council, had until Friday 19th July to confirm their nominations for council reps.

After two reminders to the Association, we finally received our letters on Thursday 18th July, giving us till Monday 22nd July to submit our nominations. None of the three supporters groups involved were satisfied by that deadline or the deadline to nominate a joint board representative with eight other groups. We expressed those concerns in detail in a letter to the GRG chair and the FAI on Thursday 18th July.

Allowing for the fact that only eight of those thirteen seats currently exist with five still to be filled at the AGM, we were expected to finalise our council nominations and liaise with eight other constituent groups, who we have had no time to build any sort of relationship with, to come up with an agreed candidate for the board in less than a week. In our eyes, this is not how a new era of improved corporate governance should be kicked off.

As we have consistently pointed out, the timescales involved in this entire process have been too ambitious from the off. The reform process has been driven by the date of the AGM when that should have been cancelled and a rescheduled AGM date should have been dictated by the process. Within the FAI rulebook, the AGM could have been held at any date up until November 18th 2018. At the very least, we believe the ODCE investigations and the Sport Ireland KOSI audit should have been completed before moving to AGM.

Notwithstanding the above, we had a decision to make on whether to keep engaging or remain disenfranchised. While waiting for a reply to our letter of 18th July, Tony Considine of YBIG Mandate and Niamh O'Mahony of Irish Supporters Network were invited to speak at the CRISC AGM on Saturday July 20th and agreement was reached that both would be ratified as the two FAI Interim Council members representing the supporters for the next year.

As previously mentioned, all three groups are uncomfortable with the pace this process is being pushed but agreement was reached that supporters' interests would be better served by having direct input into the association than by remaining excluded. In particular, having no input into the selection of the board member who will be mandated to raise supporters' issues at board level was a real concern.

The latest Sunday Times article where internal FAI correspondence stating 'Gardai are trying to hack into' individual supporters' private communications was published is frankly shocking and only further strengthened our belief that consistently reviewing our position is the right thing to do. All three of our groups utterly condemn that behaviour.

The GRG replied to us last Monday and stated that additional time in relation to the election of a board member could be given if required. We have spent the last week engaging with the various constituents within the 'Others' group to discuss the best way forward. We will meet with them on Saturday prior to the AGM where a final decision on whether to propose a board member will either be taken or postponed in the short term.

From our perspective and following detailed consideration, we have decided against proposing one of the Supporters' reps for the board seat. While ultimately we believe that it is desirable for representation at that level, we are conscious that whoever takes that seat will have to represent the concerns of a far broader constituency, rather than just supporters' interests.

Instead, we believe that we can maximise our influence in relation to the specific issues that impact on supporters through the various committees sitting underneath board level and then directly with the new board. We are currently working on a joint strategy to best develop this.

While different groups of support within the game will always have different priorities,
○ ALL supporters want a stronger game in Ireland
○ ALL supporters want a positive match day experience
○ ALL supporters want to see more fans in our grounds

Our three supporters' groups believe that a united voice for fans can be an important catalyst in pushing for the reform needed for a brighter future for football in Ireland. We pledge to work for that both within council and within the Supporters Forum that we will implement over the next year. We believe that putting any previous differences aside and working together is the best way to achieve this.

Tony Considine on behalf of YBIG Independent Supporters Mandate

Niamh O'Mahony on behalf of Irish Supporters Network

Brian Hehir on behalf of CRISC

___________________________________________________________________________________

We would also ask members to encourage fellow supporters who may not have already signed up to the Mandate to do so. From a starting point of zero, we now have over 600 supporters signed up. The more members we have, the louder our voice can be. Fans can sign on at the below link.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqTpkpSLMABsDinI_jGjzALtJ-Nok02uM6ylPwfBt9-BrQYQ/viewform

If anyone who has signed up hasn't received this update via email, please notify us at ybigmandate@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support.

YBIG Independent Supporters Mandate Committee

Edited by Hickster74 - 27 Jul 2019 at 7:08pm

DUBLIN DOC wrote:

Well done to all involved, let’s leave the past behind and move forward as a united fan base

Well said Doc Thumbs Up

Lansdowne Road debut aged 52 and 201 days .

More great work from the Mandate Committee - Doing a fine job representing us Independent fans

Just saw that the FAI appointed a supporters liaison officer.

How much input or awareness did the Ybig committee have to that appointment?

Edited by craiglen - 14 Feb 2023 at 10:33pm

Fan's game record: 5 Caps, 1 goal, 2 assists, 140 km covered