Ireland Funds group raises $7m despite downturn

A GROUNDSWELL of “pragmatic patriotism” among the Irish disaspora has resulted in philanthropists raising $7 million (€5.6 million) for social and charitable projects in Ireland.

The Ireland Funds, a global network of philanthropists, said at the weekend that the money would be used in the form of grants and gifts to arts, social and community organisations across the island.

Ireland Funds worldwide chief executive Kieran McLoughlin, said the funds had been raised against a “relentlessly challenging economic and philanthropic environment”. “If there is evidence of a silver lining in the cloud that hangs over the economy of the island right now, then the diaspora is its brightest spot,” he said.

At the height of the boom, the fund raised some $23 million in a single year. This sum has fallen sharply in more recent times against the backdrop of the global economic downturn. It is on course to raise about $14 million this year, a similar sum to last year.

The Ireland Funds are made up of 12 different funds of which the American Ireland fund is the largest. These are private fundraising entities whose aim is to generate support for charities in Ireland on both sides of the Border, and for needy members of the Irish community abroad.

In the last decade, the American Ireland Fund says it has written cheques for $110 million to 1,200 organisations. It organises 100 events across its network, attended by 40,000 guests annually.

Much of its fundraising comes through gala dinners, which can raise tens of thousands of dollars per head. Its most successful event – the 2007 New York gala dinner – raised more than $4 million.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has praised the organisation as a model for diaspora and philanthropic networking.

The funds were at the centre of controversy earlier this year over the size of salary and benefits paid to its former chief executive.

Kingsley Aikins received $800,000 in 2009 as chief executive. The board of the charity has since “amicably renegotiated” a new salary package for Kingsley Aikins, who is no longer an employee but remains a consultant to the charity.