---- "Conor Wao" conorwao@gmail.com wrote:
Aside from getting more people, we need to consider drafting some founding documents - a mission statement, bylaws, etc. Perhaps we could get access to the UK team's documents as an initial step.
Ours are all available on our wiki at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Constitution and you're welcome to cut and paste if you want! I don't know how different English and Irish company and charity law are - wouldn't be surprised if they were very similar, but I'm afraid it's not really my area of experience or expertise.
Regards,
On 25 Jul 2010, at 00:34, Andrew Turvey wrote:
---- "Conor Wao" conorwao@gmail.com wrote:
Aside from getting more people, we need to consider drafting some founding documents - a mission statement, bylaws, etc. Perhaps we could get access to the UK team's documents as an initial step.
Ours are all available on our wiki at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Constitution and you're welcome to cut and paste if you want! I don't know how different English and Irish company and charity law are - wouldn't be surprised if they were very similar, but I'm afraid it's not really my area of experience or expertise.
The WMUK constitution was based upon the standard Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association for new charities provided by the Charities Commission [1], with a series of modifications to ensure that it let us do everything that we needed to (e.g. hold meetings online; the original one was geared for in-person meetings only). And, of course, a newly-written Object.
I would recommend starting from standard text for Irish charities if such a standard text exists. I couldn't find this via a Google search, however I did come across a site that might be able to point you in the right direction: an "online network for irish non-profit organisations" http://www.activelink.ie/ They also look useful for other topics too e.g. tax exemption; see their FAQ page [2] amongst others.
[1] http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Library/publications/pdfs/gd1textbw.pdf [2] http://www.activelink.ie/node/801
Thanks, Mike Peel (Another member of Wikimedia UK's Board)
I did some investigation into the requirements for registration in Ireland last year. Andrew, you said you wouldn't be surprised if English and Irish law was very similar. From my investigation, the Friendly Societies Act 1896 may be a relevant avenue to go down. If so, the questions is really how much you have changed your law since then :-)
The relevant page on the Companies Registration Office page is for registration of a Friendly Society is: http://www.cro.ie/en/business-registration-friendly-society.aspx
If we were to go down the Friendly Society line, I have made a check-list of questions we would need to answer here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Ireland/Bylaws/Requirements_for_reg...
A straight-up company is another route. The relevent page for a company is: http://www.cro.ie/ena/business-registration-company.aspx
There is no such thing as a "charity" in Irish law. Charity status is instead merely an arrangement between a company and the tax man, from what I can tell.
There are likely other routes we could go but I think it would be better to get legal advice before making these decisions. Are there any solicitors on the list? If no, we might look to someone who give free legal aid in Ireland. Given our public good mission, they might be willing to help out. Does anyone have any experience with FLAC (http://www.flac.ie/)?
Oliver
On 25 Jul 2010, at 11:22, Michael Peel wrote:
On 25 Jul 2010, at 00:34, Andrew Turvey wrote:
---- "Conor Wao" conorwao@gmail.com wrote:
Aside from getting more people, we need to consider drafting some founding documents - a mission statement, bylaws, etc. Perhaps we could get access to the UK team's documents as an initial step.
Ours are all available on our wiki at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Constitution and you're welcome to cut and paste if you want! I don't know how different English and Irish company and charity law are - wouldn't be surprised if they were very similar, but I'm afraid it's not really my area of experience or expertise.
The WMUK constitution was based upon the standard Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association for new charities provided by the Charities Commission [1], with a series of modifications to ensure that it let us do everything that we needed to (e.g. hold meetings online; the original one was geared for in-person meetings only). And, of course, a newly-written Object.
I would recommend starting from standard text for Irish charities if such a standard text exists. I couldn't find this via a Google search, however I did come across a site that might be able to point you in the right direction: an "online network for irish non-profit organisations" http://www.activelink.ie/ They also look useful for other topics too e.g. tax exemption; see their FAQ page [2] amongst others.
[1] http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Library/publications/pdfs/gd1textbw.pdf [2] http://www.activelink.ie/node/801
Thanks, Mike Peel (Another member of Wikimedia UK's Board)
WikimediaIE mailing list WikimediaIE@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaie
User:Rannpháirtí anaithnid
On 25 July 2010 12:17, Oliver Moran wiki_ra@yahoo.ie wrote:
I did some investigation into the requirements for registration in Ireland last year. Andrew, you said you wouldn't be surprised if English and Irish law was very similar. From my investigation, the Friendly Societies Act 1896 may be a relevant avenue to go down. If so, the questions is really how much you have changed your law since then :-)
The relevant page on the Companies Registration Office page is for registration of a Friendly Society is: http://www.cro.ie/en/business-registration-friendly-society.aspx
If we were to go down the Friendly Society line, I have made a check-list of questions we would need to answer here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Ireland/Bylaws/Requirements_for_reg...
A straight-up company is another route. The relevent page for a company is: http://www.cro.ie/ena/business-registration-company.aspx
There is no such thing as a "charity" in Irish law. Charity status is instead merely an arrangement between a company and the tax man, from what I can tell.
There are likely other routes we could go but I think it would be better to get legal advice before making these decisions. Are there any solicitors on the list? If no, we might look to someone who give free legal aid in Ireland. Given our public good mission, they might be willing to help out. Does anyone have any experience with FLAC (http://www.flac.ie/)?
WMUK decided to become a company, rather than an association (the British equivalent of a Friendly Society), primarily because it provides more protection for the board members. I haven't researched the relevant Irish law, but I expect that the trustees of a Friendly Society are personally liable for its debts and for any wrongdoing by the society. The directors of a company (in the UK, anyway) have "limited liability", which means they are only personally liable under very restricted circumstances. There is usually more bureaucracy associated with companies, though. My advice would be to take the same route we did and become a company. It is a good idea to seek professional legal advice first, though. If you can't find free advice, I suggest you ask the Foundation for funds to pay for legal advice (they offered us such funds and I'm sure they would do the same for you).
wikimediaie@lists.wikimedia.org