Clarity
Good governance only works when people understand it. We write and speak in plain language so every trustee - not just the experienced ones - can take part with confidence.
What we do
Plainspoken is a governance and strategy advisory practice for small organisations. We review and strengthen boards, build governance frameworks that people actually use, and facilitate strategies that boards own. Every engagement is scoped up front, delivered to a fixed fee, and written in plain language.
Who we serve
We work with the groups that run on lean budgets and volunteer time: small charities, sports clubs, and member organisations across Ireland. These are the boards that do the real work and rarely have the budget for a large consultancy - which is exactly why we built Plainspoken for them.
How we work
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 Plainspoken
Plainspoken was founded by Dáire Martin in 2026, drawing on six years of senior advocacy and governance experience across higher education, charities, professional sports clubs, and business boards in Ireland and Scotland. He has held directorships, governorships, and trusteeships across regulated environments in both Ireland and Scotland, and has worked closely with the boards of organisations ranging from local community groups to multi-million euro public institutions.
The practice exists because of a specific gap. Most governance and strategy consultants in Ireland are built for organisations that can afford Dublin-firm rates - large charities, semi-state bodies, established institutions. At the other end, free sector resources from bodies like The Wheel or the Charities Regulator are useful but generic. In between sits the vast majority of Irish civil society: the small charities, the volunteer-led sports clubs, the member organisations and community bodies that hold communities together on tight budgets and goodwill. These organisations deserve serious advisory help, sized to their reality. Most of them don’t get it.
Plainspoken is built for them. Three things define how we work. Plain language - every report, policy, and conversation is written to be understood by every member of your board, not just the ones with legal or financial backgrounds. Fixed scope and fixed fee - every engagement has defined deliverables, a defined timeline, and a price agreed before we start. Honest counsel - we tell organisations what we found, not what they hoped to hear, and we recommend other providers (including free ones) when those are the right answer.
Our values.
Honesty
We tell organisations what we found, not what they hoped to hear. If you don’t need us, we’ll say so. The trust that builds is worth more than any single engagement.
Discipline
Fixed scope and fixed fee aren’t a gimmick - they’re a discipline. We agree exactly what we’ll deliver and then we deliver it, on time, without scope creep.