Sir, - I refer to Mr William T. McCarter's defence of the International Fund for Ireland of which he is chairman (January 30th).Mr McCarter states that this organisation "has no trouble in committing all of the funds made available to it by its donors". In layman's language this roughly translates as: "We are good at giving away money, no problem."The International Fund for Ireland approved a grant of £100,000 to a "heritage centre" in Burt, Co Donegal.
Previously the organisation awarded this concern a grant of £140,000. This "heritage centre" has an application lodged with Donegal County Council to build houses in Burt Woods. Burt is a largely native wood of about 11 acres. Only 2 per cent of Ireland's native woodlands remain.Mr McCarter rightly claims that the fund's work is possible only "with the generous support of our donors", who are among others, the EU, US and Canada.Would these donors be so generous if they knew their money was being used to indirectly subsidise the transformation of a native Irish wood into a building site? The fact that all of the organisation's funds are committed is not, of itself, necessarily something to be proud of. - Yours, etc.,Michael Mcguire, Garvery, Burnfoot, Co Donegal.
