By any measure, Ireland has accumulated great wealth in the past decade. The economic statistics speak for themselves.
Seven years ago there were fewer than 10,000 millionaires, today there are more than 33,000. And over the past 10 years household wealth has increased by some 350 per cent. Ireland, once a seriously poor country, has become a seriously rich society.
Great wealth, for high-wealth individuals, carries its responsibilities. For society provides the conditions that facilitate wealth creation, whether through low taxes, better education, or good government. Traditionally, wealth holders have discharged their debt of honour by acts of philanthropy. In return for their great good fortune, they give something back to society.
That is how it is done, elsewhere, and the United States provides perhaps the best example. Here, however, despite the country's rapid economic transformation, private philanthropy is still in its infancy. Ireland now has ground to make up. As Tina Roche, chief executive of the Community Foundation for Ireland, which is trying to implant a philanthropic culture here, pointed out this week: "If Ireland's wealthiest citizens contributed at the same level as in Britain, we would double our rate of giving to over €1 billion annually". Even that would still leave Ireland, which donates some 0.34 per cent of GNP to the not-for-profit sector, trailing far behind the US, where private philanthropy is, and has been, such an exemplary feature of the American way of life.
Indeed, nothing illustrates better the giving while living philosophy than the remarkable and selfless generosity of Chuck Feeney, the Irish-American billionaire philanthropist, who has preferred anonymity to public recognition for his many acts of public charity. His foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, has donated some $4 billion (€2.94 billion) to deserving causes worldwide, of which one quarter has assisted Irish projects, particularly third-level education. Last year, Warren Buffett, one of the world's most successful investors, pledged his personal fortune ($37 billion) largely to the Gates Foundation, which aims to reduce premature death in the developing world.
Here the Ireland Funds, which were started in 1976 by Sir Anthony O'Reilly and by a Pittsburgh businessman, Dan Rooney, have over the past three decades tapped into the Irish diaspora worldwide, and raised more than $300 million to support social, educational and cultural projects at home. Now through groups like the Community Foundation and Philanthropy Ireland, a further serious effort is being made to raise awareness of the great financial wealth in Irish society, and of the opportunity this presents for Ireland's many high wealth individuals to engage in planned giving while living. The donors can see the impact of their generosity while still alive. The recipients can experience the difference those donations make. For giver and receiver, it can be a mutually rewarding experience.