Sir, - Senator David Norris (June 9th) wrote, with his characteristic acerbic wit, about the eleemosynary practices of some of our wealthy citizens and his own hopes for largesse. But, joking apart, I think it is right and important that due recognition should be given to the fact that the level of genuine philanthropy by some of Ireland's business leaders is well above the ordinary and hugely beneficial to the country.
Universities have been particular beneficiaries. One particular gift of 12 years ago had a profound effect on Trinity and on private giving to Irish higher education. In 1987, Dr A. J. F. O'Reilly contributed £1.5 million to enable Trinity to build an Institute for Communications and Technology.
This generous gift gave a rocketlike start to Trinity's expansion in science and technology, which has continued steadily since then. As a result, Trinity was able to expand its Department of Computer Science and to facilitate research and the incubation of a success of new companies, including Iona Technologies, whose success has placed Ireland in the forefront of the evolution of software technology. The Irish Times (April 14th, 1987) in an editorial entitled "Tony's Gift" wrote, "his gift of £1.5 million to Trinity College captures the imagination. It is a donation of exceptional generosity".
Since then, private giving has helped develop many crucial aspects of the infrastructure of Irish universities. Without such altruism and far-sighted commitment to the interests of the country on the part of our business leaders, Irish higher education could not maintain the standards and international respect that has been a vital element in building the economic boom of the 1990s. - Yours, etc., Thomas N. Mitchell,
Provost. University of Dublin. Trinity College, Dublin 2.