London Irish doing it for their local community… Here’s the BibleCodeSundays getting together with friends and other musicians to help raise money for St Luke’s Hospice in Harrow, London. Do They Know It’s Christmas charity single, The Ginger Melodeon Experience… You can download the song or video for free here, and any donation to St Luke’s Hospice charity is obviously very much appreciated. Nice one guys, and great Christmas spirit.
So far they have raised just in excess €20,000, and they’d love to reach their €30,000 target. They’re covering the cost of the venture themselves and each have their own personal reasons for wanting to help cancer organisations. Read all about the lads on their Cycle of America website, and say hello to them on their Facebook page. Wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip guys, and well done for pulling this together. Shane and his girlfriend Victoria Clarke had the idea, Shane’s friend Gerry O’Boyle helped pull it together, and one week later a bunch of pals were recording in a rigged up headquarters in the back of The Boogaloo, Highgate, London. Great song and all proceeds go to Haiti relief via Concern, an international humanitarian organisation originally started by Kay and John O’Loughlin Kennedy back in March 1968 and operating in Haiti for the last 15 years. The ladies, the gents, and the ruffians…! Shane MacGowan – vocals Make it Haiti charity single No’ 1 – Facebook. Available on iTunes Download links also at Concern and Independent Records Ltd. Good on the lads and lasses for doing it for Haiti.
Tourism minister Martin Cullen was contacted by Mr Feeney after the Global Irish Economic Forum in September when he offered to match government funds for boosting tourism. This is a great gesture and sits well with other efforts in the pipeline, e.g, the plan to offer older visitors free off-peak rail travel all over Ireland. We’ll keep an eye on these initiatives and post more information when details are available. In the meantime a simple thank you to Mr Feeney for his kind generosity. If you’re not aware of The Ireland Funds read on to get to know about them… They are a charitable organisation operating in 12 countries that has raised over $300 million for worthy causes. Founded in Pittsburgh in 1976, they manage over 100 events annually in 39 cities around the world making them one of the largest global organisations helping Ireland. Extremely well versed in the area of diaspora philanthropy they have funded over 1,200 organisations in Ireland and beyond, and as a thought leader in the area of diaspora engagement are actively contributing to the body of knowledge in the field of diaspora studies.
Their mission is ‘to be the largest worldwide network of people of Irish ancestry and friends of Ireland dedicated to raising funds to support programs of peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development throughout the island of Ireland’. They are a highly effective organisation that are at the heart of great projects such as this. ‘A Comparative Review of International Diaspora Strategies’ is the title of their new report, and it is an in-depth study of strategies from other countries, most notably Israel and India. The report provides guidance and recommendations on how Ireland can best engage with its diaspora in the 21st century. The timing coincides with the Global Irish Economic Forum to be held in Farmleigh this coming week-end (18th – 19th September), and given The Ireland Funds wealth of knowledge the guest list would do well to have a copy in their hands. I was going to try and summarise the report whilst trying to reflect its excellence, but it’s hard to do this and still do it justice. The document is approximately 100 pages in length, and the depth it goes into makes each of the sections highly informative. There is a focus on economics and mutual benefit, but it also keeps sight of cultural ties and Irelands relationship with its diaspora at a broader level. You can download the report here, and i’ve included the contents below to give you an idea of the scope: Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Section 5 Section 6 Section 7 Section 8 You’ll need to put aside a bit of time, but if this is an area that interests you it’s well worth the read. And well done to The Ireland Funds for producing the report – it will be a fantastic development if the relevant parties take it on board, and incorporate it into a plan of action. |  Irish Abroad Voting Rights Join diaspora.ie and get your personal Certificate of Irish Heritage..  |
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I’ll write more about Chuck Feeney and The Atlantic Philanthropies another time (a story that deserves justice), but for all our friends across the pond just a brief note that Mr Feeney is planning on making $100 holiday vouchers available for up to 50,000 people visiting Ireland from the US next year (source: 
