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Trinity income down nearly 50%

The Campanile - Trinity College, Dublin, by Mariano Colantoni on Flickr
The Campanile – Trinity College, Dublin, by Mariano Colantoni on Flickr under

Ireland’s leading educational foundation, the Trinity Foundation, has seen its income drop nearly 50 percent in the last year, according to a report in the Sunday Independent.

The latest accounts from the foundation show that income fell from €26.9m in 2009 to just €14.5m in 2010, a 46 per cent decrease. Foundation director Nick Sparrow told the Independent that the outlook for 2011 is much the same as last year.

“The major issue is one of uncertainty – individuals and companies are unable to make long-term pledges over three or four years as they would have in the past. People aren’t making any major purchasing commitments and philanthropy is going to suffer just as much if not more,” Mr Sparrow said.

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A number of Trinity College‘s most high profile initiatives including the Conservation of the Old Library, the Trinity Access Programme and the Science Gallery are under threat following the fall in funding at the Trinity Foundation.

Mr Sparrow said that the library and its contents, including the Book of Kells, require preservation from the effects of age and environmental pollutants. The building itself also requires conservation work, which may now have to be forestalled.

Another initiative under threat is the Trinity Access Programme, which has helped almost 400 students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to graduate from Trinity.

The Foundation’s current board has some of Ireland’s leading businessmen, including a strong representation from the world of finance.

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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.

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