Donations by JP McManus Charitable Foundation climb 30%

Donations from a charity set up by Limerick businessman JP McManus were up almost 30 per cent last year compared with the year before, its latest accounts show.

The JP McManus Charitable Foundation spent €2.2 million on “charitable disbursements” in 2017, which was up from €1.7 million a year earlier.

Total income and endowments amounted to €5.2 million. That was up from €755,303 the year before. The increase was largely due to donations of €4.6 million, compared with none during 2016.

The company said the donations were received from a beneficial shareholder of a company that is connected to “some of the directors”. As such, it was considered to be a related party transaction.

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The charity is run by Mr McManus’s wife, Noreen McManus, and his daughter, Sue-Ann Foley. The other directors are listed as Declan Moylan, P Gerard Boland, and Mark Power.

The company, which is exempt from income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax and deposit interest retention tax, had total funds of €51.3 million at the end of the year, which was up from €47.8 million the year before.

Objectives

The company listed a wide range of “financial objectives” in its annual report. These include: providing relief for poverty, treatment for the disabled, care for the terminally ill, drug abuse prevention, human rights, and job creation.

The directors said they expect the present level of activity to “continue for the foreseeable future”.

Mr McManus was in the headlines last month after he donated €100,000 to every Gaelic Athletic Association county board in Ireland, to be divided equally among their clubs. That move followed Limerick’s victory in the All Ireland Hurling Championship.

The leading racehorse owner explained that his intention with the €3.2 million outlay was to assist the continued development of Gaelic games in the country.

However, Mr McManus, who is worth an estimated €2.1 billion, also drew some criticism. As a resident in Switzerland, he has not been registered for income or capital gains tax with the Irish Revenue since 1995.