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Dear Friend of The Ireland Funds Australia


I hope you are keeping safe and well in this unprecedented situation the world finds itself in. Jennifer and I are working remotely now and we are lucky to be able to do so, with the use of technology, helping to continue the work of the Fund in any way we can.   


Obviously we can no longer hold any of our events which is a double-edged sword for me as firstly it means we cannot help as many people as we should be helping, actually when they need us more than ever!     Secondly,  I so love that our events bring so many of us together to connect and have some fun.   Over the years I have loved making many friends and acquaintances as our Ireland Funds family has grown, as I am sure you have too,  so I wanted to reach out at this time to say we are still here, virtually and in real-time, at the end of an email, a mobile phone or social media.  


As we wade through this pandemic, technology will become more and more important to us all and we are looking at ways we can better connect with you, keep you updated of important information and most importantly, for us all to be there for each other, so if we at the Fund can help in any way at all, do let us know, even if it's just a chat.


As we all will probably have a little more time I wanted to share with you our most recent online copy of our Global Connect Magazine.   It does a wonderful job of showing you the positive work being done in communities all over Ireland by committed, passionate and caring people – enabled by generous people like you.  Work such as:

Pieta House providing accessible professional counselling to Irish men, women and children struggling with thoughts of suicide and self­­­­ harm. 

Page 18

Suas Educational Development providing evidence-based reading and maths supports to struggling children whose needs are not being addressed by the education system. 

Page 19

Youth Action Northern Ireland with a 75 year history of working with young people in Northern Ireland and Border counties to tackle inequalities, improve their life chances, inspire them as activists and contribute to flourishing communities in a peaceful, shared society. 

Page 20

Blossom Ireland creating new possibilities for those with intellectual disabilities. 

Page 22

No Mind Left Behind an initiative to give promising young people an opportunity to complete third-level education by providing annual scholarships. 

Page 26

These are just some of the wonderful projects being run by extraordinary people helping to knit together the social fabric of society, highlighted in this edition.


We are very proud of the work The Ireland Funds does in partnership with our donors whose generosity has changed thousands of lives across the island of Ireland and around the world.  The Ireland Funds has never wavered in its commitment and core mission:  to deliver private philanthropic support to worthy causes that promote peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development. We don’t expect donors to support us over others but rather consider including us in their portfolio of giving.   All organisations are committed to their missions and the people we support are relying on us to continue to fight for them and support them, particularly in these extremely difficult times.   So it would be remiss of me not to ask anyone that can, at this time, to consider joining or continuing one of our Giving Programmes or make a one off donation all of which is tax-deductible.


I would like to leave you with this thought  

“We cannot calm the tempest, but we can calm ourselves – and the tempest will pass”! 


Please stay healthy and well and look after yourselves and your loved ones in the coming weeks and months. I very much look forward to keeping in touch.


Very best wishes

Teresa Keating

Executive Director

The Ireland Funds Australia