Irish NGOs Rescue the Man

This is not good news for the Government of Ireland, but in the annals of nonprofit reporting, it goes down as an odd and bittersweet victory of sorts for NGOs. The nugget of good news hidden is this story is that by rescuing a national government from some of its troubles, civil society proves yet again what a vital force it is in any nation’s health and life.

So here’s the scoop, according to UKFundraising: The Irish government is in such hot water budget-wise that the Irish Cancer Society and Elton John Foundation are riding to its rescue with grants totaling €1.75 million to prop up government programs.

Elton John’s charity’s offering of €750,000 over three years will fund a national needle exchange program. The Irish Cancer Society is offering €1 million over two years to finance a new national bowel cancer screening program for older adults.

“We would rather not have to make this offer, but on this occasion we believe that we have no choice,” said Bill McCabe, Chairman of Irish Cancer Society, according to the article. It is a sad day when NGOs are picking up the slack for The Man, but it does shed light on the sophistication of Irish civil society that they are making offers they’d rather not extend in the interest of the public good.

On this side of the pond, things are going the other way around; a recent House bill repealing a two-decade ban on federal funding of syringe exchange programs shows that our government can sometimes be as useful as Irish NGOs.

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