Irish companies raised more than €16.7 million for charities and community groups last year, figures released today show.
Some 43 companies have formed partnerships with more than 3,600 community groups as part of Businesses in the Community Ireland initiative.
Statistics nationally show over €11 million was given in cash donations, some €3.3 million was raised through employee fundraising and a further €2.3 million was contributed though in-kind donations - contributed through goods and services rather than money.
Employees of the contributing companies also volunteered more than 130,000 hours to local groups and projects during the year.
Some issues that received the most support were health initiatives at €5 million and community projects at €3 million; education projects were allocated €2.9 million, while social-inclusion schemes received €2.3 million and homelessness projects €760,000.
Cash donations were highest in Dublin, at €6.8 million, followed by Mayo at €1.1 million, Cork at €800,000 and Kildare at €350,000.
Separately today, former Ireland international footballer Niall Quinn announced the ninth year of the Dublin Bus Community Spirit Initiative by donating €5,000 to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin.
Mr Quinn has been a patron of the programme since 2003 and the donation will go towards providing food for families in Dublin. “The people at this centre are here for hampers of food - they can’t even afford the bus in so Dublin Bus is providing them with free tickets home so when they do get here they don’t have to pay on the bus,” he said.
Rather than getting annoyed at the political system, he said, today was about honouring the people that get involved in volunteering and said he hoped the money would go to good use.
The charity is seeing more young families that are finding it difficult to pay their mortgages, said Brother Kevin Crowley, head of the centre.
“We meet people who have lost their jobs, and we are meeting people that are on the verge of losing their homes, and there is a huge amount of depression amongst these people. Our main concern is their dignity and respect,” he said.
An interactive map of charitable donations can be viewed here