Library named after major benefactor
Howard Lake | 22 April 2007 | News
Queen’s University has announced that its new library will be named after Sir Anthony O’Reilly, one of Ireland’s richest men and a major figure in philanthrophy. O’Reilly has also supported educational establishments in the Republic over the last ten years.
The £40m state-of-the-art library is due to be completed by 2009 and will be named The Sir Anthony O’Reilly Library. It is one of the most ambitious building projects in Northern Ireland and also the most significant fundraising initiative in the university’s history. Funding for the library includes a £4m donation from Sir Anthony and the Ireland Funds.
The decision was taken to name the library after Sir Anthony to mark his role as a benefactor to Queen’s and his commitment to higher education.
The library is the centrepiece of Queen’s ambitious £200m building programme which aims to create a campus that will be the envy of the world.
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The funding gift, which was announced in 2004, involves a large personal donation from Sir Anthony of £3m in the form of a direct donation of £2m and a guarantee through the Ireland Funds of £1m over the next five years. Independent News & Media (Northern Ireland), publishers of the Belfast Telegraph, agreed to donate £1m over the same period.
The library fundraising campaign has been spearheaded by the Queen’s University Foundation and all the money has come from private sources.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.