# Irish philanthropist’s giving falls

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/26/irish-philanthropists-giving-falls/
- Published: 2019-06-26T10:56:16+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**One of Ireland’s largest charitable foundation’s grant giving dropped by nearly
€1 million last year, according to its latest accounts.**

The [Iris O’Brien Foundation](https://search.benefacts.ie/org/80e41559-67d9-4be6-929e-c4e253a52ce5)
provided grants of €3.7 million in 2018, down from €4.7 million the year before.
The Foundation is funded by Denis O’Brien, 61, one of Ireland’s richest men, who
has made a fortune in the telecom business and a host of other investments.

Mr O’Brien is also co-founder of Frontline, the international foundation for the
protection of human rights defenders and through his Digicel Foundation, O Brien
supports projects in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea. He is chairman of the 
Haiti Action Network, which coordinates the activities of approximately 80 support
organisations in Haiti.

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The Foundation, set up in 2000, has continued the practice of splitting its giving
between local and overseas charities. In 2017 overseas giving was €2.7 million but
fell to €1.5 million in 2018. Domestic donations were €2.2 million in 2018, up from
€1.8 million the year before.

The charitable purposes of the Foundation are to support activities in the relief
of poverty, the advancement of education, the advancement of religion, doing of 
works for the public good and ‘activities of an ancillary and related nature.’

In practice the Foundation has supported charities working in the fields of advocacy
and civil rights, arts and culture, asylum seekers/refugees, social enterprise and
disaster relief.

The accounts record services provided to the Foundation to a value of €180,000. 
The Foundation shares offices owned by Mr O’Brien’s commercial operations.

Despite recording losses of over €400 million on the recent sale of his Independent
newspaper chain Mr O’Brien’s net worth is still estimated by Forbes to be over €
4 billion. The accounts state that Mr O’Brien will continue to support the Foundation
in the future.

 

 * **[O’Brien Foundation gave €5.5m last year](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/04/03/obrien-foundation-gave-e5-5-million-last-year/)(
   3 April 2017)**
 * **[Denis O’Brien gave €2.7m last year](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/04/13/denis-obrien-gave-e2-7m-last-year/)(
   13 April 2015)**

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