EX-HOSPICE CHAIRMAN QUITS MANAGERIAL POST

WILLIAM Odling-Smee, the Northern Ireland Hospice’s first ever chairman, has quit his senior manager’s post in the latest in a series of tribulations for the beleaguered organisation.

Mr Odling-Smee, who helped found the charity in the early 1980s, is understood to have stood down from the council of management earlier this month.

However, the resignation comes ahead of next month’s Extraordinary General Meeting which could see the current management ousted following months of controversy.

The resignation of Mr Odling-Smee follows the recent calls for the council's nine members to stand down following the controversial suspension and then sacking of the charity's administrative director, Tom Hill.

Mr Odling-Smee’s resignation also comes in the wake of the recent announcement that human resources manager John Cooley would be standing down from his position.

Already some hospice members are bidding to replace the current management with an interim team comprising a number of prominent figures

However, an appeal has been sent out to the 1,000-strong membership calling for support in tabling a separate resolution calling for the council to be replaced by a team totally independent from the dispute at the EGM on 8 August. (MB)