More than one-quarter of the US multinational firms that sponsored past Dublin Pride events have pulled out this month due to the shift in US attitudes towards diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, organisers have said.
Pride’s co-chief executive Jed Dowling said 12 of 42 US firms that had recently been involved stepped away.
He said 10 did so because of concerns over the Trump administration’s threats to sanction firms with DEI policies it did not approve of.
Speaking at a Pride at Work event, hosted by the Department of Justice on Friday, Mr Dowling said two of the 12 firms stated they could not offer financial support this year because of cuts to discretionary budgets related to wider financial performance or falls in share prices.
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However, he said the event overall would be bigger this year because more new firms and community groups had become involved.
Mr Dowling declined to name the firms that have withdrawn support. However, recruitment firm Indeed and Mastercard are known to be among those that have stepped away.
He said most of the major US firms from the banking and pharma sectors that have previously backed the event will again be involved. Those partnering again this year include Citibank, Bank of America, Dell, Pfizer and Abbvie.
Some of those that have departed remain supportive, with Indeed understood to be one such firm.
In a statement on Friday another traditional backer, EY Ireland, said it was “very much looking forward to once again participating in Dublin Pride” and would be organising a number of events around it.
Trayc Keevans, who advised major multinationals on investment in Ireland for international recruitment firm Morgan McKinley, said the departure of some firms did not necessarily mean a shift in corporate values.
“The reduction in public sponsorships reflects a broader shift in how multinational organisations are supporting DEI initiatives,” she said.
“Rather than wavering on their overall commitment to DEI, we are seeing they are being more intentional about deploying resources where they can have the most meaningful impact, particularly through internal programmes that directly benefit their employees and local communities while balancing that with the complex regulatory environment their parent companies are operating within.”
Firms, she said, were conscious of the need to be able to continue to bid for public sector contracts in the US and were adapting their support for inclusion programmes and initiatives to ensure they avoided sanctions.
Addressing the Pride at Work meeting, Mr Dowling said the organisation was launching individual memberships in an attempt to keep people involved with the organisation even if their employer has disengaged.
“Where your connection to the community has been facilitated by your company, what happens when you’re in one of those dozen American companies who say ‘we don’t support diversity and inclusion anymore, we don’t have that anymore’, and suddenly your whole connection is gone?,” he said.
This year’s Dublin event culminates in the traditional parade through the city centre on June 28th, which thousands of people are expected to participate in. Events are being billed as a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Ireland’s vote in favour of marriage equality.
