Madam, - Your Editorial of September 21st on philanthropy in Ireland is very timely. Because of the recent accumulation of private wealth in Ireland, an extraordinary opportunity exists to design and implement an Irish philanthropic model for the future. Successful private philanthropy depends primarily on three factors: a culture of generosity, private financial capacity, and philanthropic infrastructure. Ireland has always had the first, recently acquired the second, and now must develop the third.
Philanthropic infrastructure is what connects the generosity of givers with the needs of beneficiaries. These are the foundations, social and charitable organisations, schools and universities, museums, and a host of ancillary service organisations and people that receive, support, and distribute philanthropic giving. Many of these institutions already exist in Ireland, but they have looked primarily to the Government for their funding and will need to build the capacity to develop private philanthropic support.
The US private philanthropic system built-up over 100 years is unique and amazingly effective at encouraging generosity and delivering support to beneficiaries. Americans privately donate 2.1 per cent of GNP, or more than $275 billion annually, to non-profit organisations. This exceeds the amount of private or government giving from any other country both in absolute money and as a percentage of GNP.
Private philanthropy in the United States long ago surpassed the US government in its support of our cultural, educational, and charitable institutions. America's most excellent museums, universities, hospitals, and charitable organisations are funded primarily by private giving. The development of private giving in the United States has been so successful that, if current trends continue, private giving for overseas charitable assistance will soon exceed the $22.7 billion the US government contributed overseas in 2006, nearly twice the amount contributed by the UK, the next largest government contributor.
I am hoping that the very successful US philanthropic model can serve as a reservoir of experience and "lessons learned" from which Ireland can borrow in developing its own model. In that effort, the US embassy will be co-hosting a conference in Dublin in February with interested Irish organisations to bring together US philanthropists and philanthropic organisations with their counterparts in Ireland to share ideas and discuss how Ireland can best and most quickly develop a philanthropic infrastructure to match its historical generosity and new giving capacity. - Yours, etc,
Ambassador THOMAS C FOLEY, United States Embassy, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Your Editorial of September 21st speaks approvingly of philanthropy and urges the super-rich in Ireland to follow the example of their peers in the US. In the same edition, an important study by the Health Research Board reveals the consequences of poverty for unborn children. Earlier in the week, while highlighting the poor performance between some pupils and others, Fergus Finlay said: "The difference is caused, essentially, by poverty."
Like Ireland, the US is one of the most unequal societies in the world. The low-tax, low-public-spending policies that have created the super-rich have also generated inequality and social exclusion in both countries.
In my work as a GP I see the consequences of this daily - fragile, vulnerable children who did not ask to be born into poverty, stumbling along through under-resourced education and social services, until they graduate into the criminal justice system, when suddenly we are prepared to spend lots of money building shiny new prisons to contain them. A simple (but costly) intervention such as school dinners might transform the outcomes for these children.
Frank McNally was right to suggest that joined-up thinking peaked in Ireland in 3200 BC. This country will reap a bitter harvest by ignoring those on the margins of the society we have created.
Our citizens do not need Victorian style largesse to paper over the chasms created by our unequal society. Our children have the right to a properly resourced education system, and the communities in which they struggle have the right to our support. It is the responsibility of all of us - society, and the government we elect, to promote social justice and not abdicate that responsibility to wealthy individuals. - Yours, etc,
Dr EDEL McGINNITY, Riverside Medical Centre, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15.