Intelligencer

U.S. Funded Centre Shuts

A major story in Ireland this week involved the news that Atlantic Philanthropies, headed by Irish American billionaire Chuck Feeney, would no longer underwrite the new Centre for Public Inquiry (CPI) in Ireland to the tune of $4 million over five years.

The centre was set up to examine controversies in Irish life, especially issues of political and business corruption. Many politicians feared it because it was beholden to no one, and there was a negative buzz about the group right from the start.

The reason was because Frank Connolly, one of Ireland’s best known investigative reporters who headed the institute, was accused of being an IRA member and of having travelled to Colombia under a false passport as part of an IRA delegation to go there.

You may remember that on a subsequent trip, Connolly’s brother, Niall, was arrested and became one of the Colombia Three, the three Irishmen who were allegedly helping the guerrilla group FARC.

The Frank Connolly accuser was none other than Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell, who used raw police data to publicly accuse Connolly of using the false passport. He said he did so because Connolly represented a grave danger to the state — a ridiculous assertion.

It was an extraordinary thing for a sitting minister to do and smacked of rough justice to many commentators, even those in opposition parties who would be no friends of Connolly.

Atlantic Philanthropies were left with little choice but to pull the funding as the new CPI was hopelessly compromised by the controversy. There is no question, however, that if Connolly had been able to satisfactorily challenge the McDowell statement then the funding would have continued, but he did not.

Feeney Feels The Loss

The withdrawal of funds from the CPI was a big blow for Feeney. He had envisaged an organization much like what the CPI has become in America (where it is known as the Centre for Public Integrity) and more recently in Australia, where the scrutiny of public officials and unveiling of influence peddling has become a trademark. Feeney has also heavily subsidized both those operations.

In the U.S., CPI was the first to report on the scandal involving the Clinton administration essentially selling access to the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House for favoured clients. They also uncovered the fact that scandal-torn Enron was the largest contributor to George W. Bush’s political campaigns.

The centre in Washington, run by its founder, Charles Lewis, has won innumerable awards and is regularly cited as the most effective watchdog of government abuse in the U.S.

The Irish branch was expected to be the same. Feeney is a notorious opponent of corruption, especially in the political process. His philanthropies have refused to invest in many countries specifically for that reason.

On a personal level, when Feeney became involved in the Irish peace process, he made it crystal clear early on that any monies he donated would be scrutinized very carefully as to how they were used.

Poorer the Better

It often became a virtue in Feeney’s eyes if an organization clearly showed it had no appreciable funding at all. He came away suitably impressed after one meeting with Sinn Fein in Belfast, where the decrepit state of the office, with plaster falling from the walls and the obvious lack of personal wealth among those he was speaking with, made a huge impression.

Feeney bases most of his lightning quick judgements on whether individuals who seek funding pass what he calls “the smell test,” especially when it comes to honesty. His embrace of Sinn Fein, funding their office in Washington, D.C., while they put a peace strategy in place, was based in large part on sincere admiration of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and what he saw as their obvious integrity.

Feeney’s strong ties to Ireland and his massive philanthropic investments, including $700 million to Irish educational institutions, has meant that he feels he has a real stake in good governance there. He has become increasingly convinced, in the wake of numerous financial scandals over the past decade that there was an overwhelming need in Ireland too for a centre for public inquiry.

Contrary to many reports, he did not have an axe to grind over who or what were investigated. He noted once that in a normal week there were at least five stories in The Irish Times, across the spectrum of business and politics, that merited further investigation.

Attempts to paint the CPI as an instrument of Sinn Fein were very far off the mark. So also was the charge that the CPI was a group of self-appointed inquisitors.

All newspapers and media organizations are self-appointed when it comes to that, and Feeney supporters point out he has invested more in Ireland than any other single person.

Connolly No Surprise

Feeney was a strong admirer of Frank Connolly’s investigative journalism over the years and became friendly with him, so it was hardly a surprise that Connolly was appointed to head the new institute.

Again, it is highly unlikely there was any political agenda, other than getting the right man for the job. Anyone who knows Feeney well would recognize that aspect to him right away.

The first two comprehensive reports, one on alleged corruption planning in Trim, Co. Meath, the other on the background to the Corrib oil scandal, hardly betrayed any political bias or targeting, certainly compared to many newspapers in Ireland.

In the end, though, Feeney has built an incredible legacy around the world as one of the greatest philanthropists of all time which is how, doubtless, he wants to be remembered. The CPI matter had begun to take up huge amounts of his time, completely out of proportion to his other priorities.

These days the 73-year-old Feeney talks a lot about what he calls RAT, or “remaining allotted time” which he wants to spend on several huge philanthropic projects which include giving away his $4 billion fortune, mostly from his sale of Duty Free Shops.

It is a huge undertaking that regularly sees him criss-cross the globe from Australia to Vietnam to Cuba, to London to Dublin to New York and San Francisco, all of which are cities where he has major projects underway. Spending an inordinate amount of time on the crisis at CPI in Ireland was never on.

Still, there is no question that if Frank Connolly had been able to produce irrefutable evidence that he was not in Colombia on the days that McDowell and others claimed he was, he would still be in charge of the institute.

“In the end Frank Connolly owed Feeney the truth, whatever it is,” said one close observer. Without that certainty it was impossible for him to continue.

Unfortunately, the integrity of Irish politics and business may be the biggest loser if the entire operation now closes down. That is what Feeney would regret most.