Ireland's development aid budget is to increase to over £800 million by 2007 according to the Government's plans, reaffirmed recently by the Taoiseach in his address to the Fianna Fβil Ardfheis. But the public's knowledge of the programme remains very patchy indeed. According to Ms Liz O'Donnell, the responsible minister, "people are completely unaware of the extent of the official programme. When they think of aid they think of Goal, Tr≤caire, Concern. They don't think of the official programme".
The current visit by the President, Mrs McAleese, and Ms O'Donnell to Uganda and Kenya is an important contribution to that process. Uganda is one of the six priority countries for Irish bilateral aid. In the last decade the country has seen substantial reductions in poverty and progress in education and economic growth. Carefully targeted aid programmes have contributed a lot to that. A visit such as this can encourage Ugandan leaders and Irish people involved in the aid projects to consider wider aspects of the relationship.
Ms O'Donnell has rejected calls to link Irish aid directly to ending corruption and war-mongering. Corruption has been endemic in Uganda but is believed to be diminishing. As she has put it, "you stay with these countries during the hard times but you don't suspend your critical facilities". She says national sovereignty must be respected. President Yoweri Museveni told his Irish visitors this week that rebels associated with Osama bin Laden had tried to overthrow him, provoking his intervention in the deadly civil war in neighbouring Congo. These issues benefit from being publicly aired during such visits. They are also there in Kenya, which has been much less successful than Uganda in terms of development planning and achievement.
Mrs McAleese has paid deserved tribute to missionary priests and nuns involved in health and education projects in Uganda. A new generation of Irish people probably does not appreciate the valuable work they have done, which has given Ireland a distinctive profile in many African countries. As the official aid programme quadruples in coming years it will build on their achievements. We need to hear more about this work if public support for the programme is to be sustained.