About our Board of Directors

Overlap between Board of Directors and Staff / Centre Team

In order to successfully fulfil our objects it is necessary to have board members who understand, both in theory and practice, what the Buddhism is and how it is to be practised. Furthermore, board members need to be schooled in our particular tradition of Buddhism, The Triratna Buddhist Community.

(Like other religions, Buddhism has many branches, which can be recognised as related to other branches through a shared history and common teachings, but which diverge in the particular teachings and methods which they employ).

An essential aspect of the Buddhist tradition that the Dublin Buddhist Centre charity is trying to foster, is the establishment, maintenance, and development of an effective spiritual community, i.e. a community based on shared Buddhist ethical and spiritual values and principles.

Because of this there is a need for those people who are most experienced and most committed to Triratna Buddhism to be able to influence the ethos of the institution at the highest level of governance, i.e. to sit on the board of directors, so that the organisation can indeed fulfil its aims.

We face a further governance challenge: because the Buddhist community in Ireland is small, we subsequently have a relatively small number of committed members that we can draw on to constitute a board, and thereby ensure that we fulfil the stated aims and objects of our charity.

We understand that it is best practice to have separation of board and staff but we believe that because of the nature of our aims and activities this would not be in the best interests of the charity.

All the paid member of staff of the charity who also act as board members are clear that the remuneration they receive is for their work in delivering and administering the activities of the charity only, and not for the work they do as board members which is done on an entirely volunteer basis. Also we strive to have as many members of the board as possible who are not paid staff as a corrective to any one-sidedness that may arise.

We understand that our governance arrangements, in respect to there being an overlap between paid staff and the board, diverge from what is generally considered best practice in the charity sector. However we believe there are cogent and ethically sound reasons for this and that these present arrangements are essential to the proper functioning of our charity and the spiritual community its activities support.

These arrangements have been made plain to both the Charities Regulation Authority and the Revenue and we have been granted charity status with both these bodies being in full possession of the facts of how we operate.

If you would like more information, please contact us.