plainspoken.

Governance & strategy advisory · North West

Governance and strategy for the organisations that  hold communities together. 

An advisory practice helping small Irish charities, sports clubs, and member organisations run better boards, build clearer strategies, and meet their governance obligations with confidence.

Explore services Book a discovery call
Scroll

We work with the boards that do the real work. Small charities, sports clubs, member organisations - the kinds of groups that hold communities together and run on lean budgets and volunteer time.

Based in the North West. Working across Ireland.

What we do

Three ways we help small boards.

Three core engagements, scoped to the realities of small organisations. Plain language. Fixed scope. Fixed fee.

  • Board Health Check

    A structured external review of how your board is performing, with practical recommendations for the next twelve months.

    • Three-week engagement
    • Written report and findings session
    • Benchmarked against the Charities Governance Code
    From €799 · 3 weeks Learn more

  • Governance Foundations

    A complete refresh of your governance framework - policies, structures, and documents - drafted to your organisation, not pulled from a template library.

    • Six to eight weeks
    • Full board pack delivered
    • Workshop and 30 days of follow-up
    From €1,999 · 6–8 weeks Learn more

  • Strategy Reset

    A facilitated process that produces a credible, board-owned, three-year strategic plan.

    • Eight-week engagement
    • Stakeholder consultation included
    • Full-day workshop with the board
    From €2,499 · 8 weeks Learn more
How we work

Three principles, no exceptions.

Plain language.

Every report, policy, and document is written to be read and understood by every member of your board. Governance frameworks fail when boards can’t use them - ours are designed to be used.

Fixed scope, fixed fee.

No hourly billing. No scope creep. No surprise invoices. Boards know exactly what they’re paying for and exactly what they’re getting before we start.

Honest counsel.

We tell organisations what we found, not what they hoped to hear. We recommend other providers when those are the right answer. Trust is the entire substrate of advisory work.

About

Led by Dáire Martin.

Plainspoken was founded by Dáire Martin, drawing on six years of senior advocacy and governance experience across higher education, charities, professional sports clubs, and business boards in Ireland and Scotland.

It exists because the gap between free templates and large-firm consultancy is enormous - and most small mission-led and community organisations sit squarely in that gap. The Charities Regulator estimates over eleven thousand charities operate in Ireland. The majority are small and volunteer led. Those organisations deserve better governance help than they currently get.

Plainspoken is built to sit in that gap. Plain language. Fixed scope. Fixed fee. We work with the boards that do real work - small charities, sports clubs, member organisations - and we deliver the kind of practical, honest help they actually need to run well.

More about Plainspoken
Templates and tools

Templates and tools.

Not every board needs a full advisory engagement. Our template packs give small organisations the governance documents they need - drafted by us, ready to adapt, delivered immediately. Buy, download, use.

  • Board Essentials Starter Pack

    The minimum viable governance pack.

    Meeting templates · Action tracker · Board calendar · Plain-language guide

    €49 View pack

  • Charity Governance Pack

    The full toolkit for Irish charities under €500k.

    Trustee policies · Risk register · Induction pack · 12-page Charity Governance Code guide

    €149 View pack

  • Sports Club Governance Pack

    Built for volunteer committees of Irish sports clubs.

    Club constitution · Safeguarding policy · AGM pack · Sport Ireland Governance Code guide

    €99 View pack
Bespoke build

Compliant Websites.

Strategic websites for organisations that need them to do real work.

Beautifully designed, fully functional, accessibility-compliant websites with safeguarding built in from the start. Built bespoke for schools, charities, and small businesses across Ireland.

  • Bespoke design, no templates
  • Safeguarding and compliance by default
  • Built in days, not months
From €600 See details

All packs are delivered immediately by email after purchase. One-time payment. Free updates for twelve months.

Browse all resources

Not sure where to start?

Book a free thirty-minute discovery call. We’ll listen to your situation and recommend what makes sense - including “don’t hire us, do this instead” if that’s the honest answer.

Book a discovery call