John O'Shea (born 1944) is founder and former
CEO of
GOAL
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
, an Irish
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
devoted to assisting the poorest of the poor. His first career was as a sports journalist and GOAL retains significant links to the sporting community, especially in Ireland.
O'Shea was shortlisted in the top 40 of 2010
RTÉ poll to find ''
Ireland's Greatest'' person.
Early life and career
O'Shea was born in County Limerick in 1944 and lived in
Westport and in
Cork. His father, a banker, moved the family to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
when he was age 11. He was schooled in
CBC Monkstown
Christian Brothers College, Monkstown Park (or CBC Monkstown Park) is a private fee-paying Catholic school and Independent Junior school, founded in 1856 in Monkstown, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland. The college arrived at Monkstown Par ...
and was a sports fanatic playing rugby at school and a keen golfer and tennis player in
Monkstown. O'Shea remains a keen fan of
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
, playing tennis every Saturday and also giving opinions on Irish sports to radio and newspapers.
[https://www.tribune.ie/article/2004/jul/25/goal-mouth/] O'Shea went on to study
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
Philosophy at
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
and had a career as a sports journalist in the ''
Evening Press
The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', which h ...
'' for many years after meeting
Tim Pat Coogan whilst studying.
GOAL
In 1977, he began his charitable organisation with a 10,000 punts donation for a feeding project in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
after which O'Shea founded GOAL.
The charity has a major sporting backbone.
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
,
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart Cash (born 27 May 1965) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 4 in May 1988 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 6 in August 1988. Upon winning ...
and
Gordon D'Arcy
Gordon William D'Arcy (born 10 February 1980, in Ferns, County Wexford) is a retired Irish rugby player who played most of his career at inside centre. He played for Irish provincial side Leinster for his entire professional career and is seco ...
are amongst the sportstars to have become "Goalies"(volunteers).
In its 36 years of operation, GOAL has distributed €790 million and has had over 1,400 volunteers. It has operated in over 50 countries worldwide.
O'Shea cites watching the "Goalies" working around the world as the best part of his years involved in the charity. O'Shea believes that governments of developed countries should be far more involved in the distribution of aid. Speaking on a tribute to his work in GOAL in 2007 on Ireland foremost chat show-''
The Late Late Show'', O'Shea said;
In 2012, O'Shea was asked to slow down by his doctor. In November 2012, former Fianna Fáil politician,
Barry Andrews, was appointed chief executive of GOAL.
Controversies
A sometimes controversial figure, O'Shea is known for his forthright public statements, particularly when he feels political correctness is getting in the way of assisting those in need, and a hands on approach to tackling
poverty related issues.
He has been criticised by some in the
INGO community for advocating military invasion and
intervention in Sudan by the US, UK and NATO, under the guise of
humanitarian intervention
Humanitarian intervention is the use or threat of military force by a state (or states) across borders with the intent of ending severe and widespread human rights violations in a state which has not given permission for the use of force. Human ...
.
He has also been critical of perceived inaction by the UN in humanitarian crisis' in conflict zones
and of governmental aid agencies in giving aid directly to allegedly corrupt African governments. John O'Shea has advocated using private companies to provide aid and military forces to directly force aid on countries. Most other Irish Aid agencies disagree stating that every type of aid channels must be used and have described his policies as re-colonisation.
His stance has drawn praise with the Vice Chancellor of the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
which awarded him an honorary doctorate,
John Naughton
John Naughton (born 18 July 1946) is an Irish academic, journalist and author. He is a senior research fellow in the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at Cambridge University, Director of the Press Fellowship Prog ...
stating; "“He
ohn O’Sheasays openly that Western aid ought not to be channelled to governments that are proven to be either corrupt or brutal – and he is happy to name those regimes. Plain speaking of this order is not usually a way to win friends and influence people. But it has influenced us, which is why we honour him today."
Additionally his salary has garnered criticisms in some quarters.
Awards
O'Shea's list of achievements and awards include: the ''
People of the Year Awards
The People of the Year Awards was an annual award show in Ireland. Organised by the Rehab Group, it was televised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).
The Awards provided a unique opportunity for the Irish public to honour outstanding contrib ...
'' 1987 and 1992, ''The Ballygowan Outstanding Achievement Award'' 1988, MIR Award 1992, ''
The Late Late Show'' Tribute 1995 and 2007, ''Texaco Outstanding Achievement Award'' 1995 and the ''
Tipperary International Peace Award
Tipperary Town (; ) is a town and a civil parish in County Tipperary, Ireland. Its population was 4,979 at the 2016 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical baro ...
'' 2003, ''
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...
Social Entrepreneur of the Year'' 2005.
In 2008, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate of laws from the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
in recognition of his work.
Current Work/Life
John O'Shea currently gives talks at NUI Galway and interpersonal skills class UCD. He has become involved with the university for a few years where he shares his story. He is an advocate for social (non-profit) entrepreneurs and tries to convince students to go down that path.
Remuneration
The ''
Sunday Independent'' newspaper reported in 2010 that he drew a then annual salary of €98,320 as acting
CEO of GOAL.
Notes and references
External links
GOAL Official websiteGOAL USAThoughts for the day by John O'Shea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshea, John
Living people
1944 births
20th-century Irish people
21st-century Irish people
Alumni of University College Dublin
Irish humanitarians
Irish sports journalists
People educated at C.B.C. Monkstown
The Irish Press people
University of Notre Dame people