Ninth Level Ireland

“Veteran American entrepreneur Chuck Feeney has signed the papers to dissolve his Atlantic Philanthropies foundation that provided more than $8 billion (€6.8 billion) in grants over the past 38 years. This included $1.3 billion to projects in the Republic and $570 million to projects in Northern Ireland …” (more)

[Ciarán Hancock, Irish Times, 15 September]

“Programme leaders from Trinity College Dublin met their benefactor – philanthropist and former billionaire Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney – at the Global Brain Health Institute conference in San Francisco last week. They were among 70 programme leaders who gathered together from across the globe …” (more)

[Independent, 16 December]

“Chuck Feeney today is a man of no property. He and his wife Helga live in a modest rented apartment in San Francisco. He has no car or luxuries of any kind. Actually, come to think of it, he has a very nice watch. It is plastic and cost about $15 …” (more)

[Conor O’Clery, Irish Times, 3 March]

“It ended as it began – quietly, low key, with no fanfare. The Dublin office of Atlantic Philanthropies closed this week as billionaire Chuck Feeney, who gave away his €7 billion fortune through it, would have wanted …” (more)

[Simon Carswell, Irish Times, 3 March]

“The greatest distraction about Atlantic Philanthropies is, ironically, its founder Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, the secretive Irish-American billiona who gave all his money away, yet left nothing behind bearing his name …” (more)

[Liam Collins, Independent, 22 October]

“The costs of maintaining two presidential houses owned by the University of Limerick have exceeded €100,000, with one multi-million euro residence left vacant for nearly a decade. The university sparked controversy in 2010 when a second house costing €2.2m and funded by philanthropist Chuck Feeney of Atlantic Philanthropies was built for its president on campus – at a time when it was €3m in debt …” (more)

[Anne Sheridan, Limerick Leader, 3 August]

“Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has praised Atlantic Philanthropies which is holding its last Irish board meeting after a 30-year grant allocation programme which saw it award amounts totalling €6.6 billion. Mr Varadkar praised the organisation for its contribution to peace in Northern Ireland, support for healthcare, equality, and third-level education, and its help in changing attitudes to the LGBT community …” (more)

[Colm Keena, Irish Times, 26 June]

“As Chuck Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) writes its last cheque, it is timely to reflect on both the scale and impact of its work in Ireland. That scale has certainly been enormous, amounting to €1.2 billion between 1987 and 2014 …” (more)

[Ned Costello, Irish Times, 6 January]

“By the end of 2016, Atlantic Philanthropies had donated more than €7.6 billion globally, including €1.5 billion in Ireland. Among the biggest recipients were University of Limerick (€170 million), Trinity College Dublin (€155 million), DCU (€122 million), UCC (€87 million), NUIG (€75 million) and UCD (€52 million) …” (more)

[Patsy McGarry, Irish Times, 3 January]

“Atlantic Philanthropies is to give €138 million – its largest grant to date – to Trinity College Dublin and University of California San Francisco to help tackle the looming dementia epidemic. Almost 50,000 people are living with dementia in Ireland, a number which is projected to double every 20 years if there is no effective intervention …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 17 November]

“Irish-American philanthropist Chuck Feeney is planning a major investment in Trinity College Dublin in one of a series of parting gifts before his charitable operations wind down, The Irish Times has learnt …” (more)

[Joe Humphreys, Irish Times, 18 September]

“By 2016 philanthropist Chuck Feeney will have given €1.5 billion to education projects in Ireland. A weighty new photographic book illustrates his generosity here and abroad …” (more)

[Joe Humphreys, Irish Times, 15 September]

“An international charity founded by Harry Potter creator JK Rowling is teaming up with NUI Galway on a project aimed at ending institutionalised care of children. Lumos, named after Harry Potter’s light-giving spell, has commissioned the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre at NUI Galway to conduct research into understanding why 80% of children in orphanages have living parents, and how families can be reunited …” (more)

[Lorna Siggins, Irish Times, 2 July]

“As a businessman, Chuck Feeney was remorseless in his pursuit of profit, squirreling away his fortune in tax havens and always driving a hard bargain. Having achieved a cash pile of some £4bn, he has been no less assiduous in giving all of it away …” (more)

[Cahal Milmo, Independent, 17 September]

“Last year University of Limerick expressed its gratitude to the billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney, who helped to build the campus, the sports arena, the library, student and staff accommodation, professorships, scholarships and research laboratories …” (more)

[Louise Holden, Irish Times, 25 February]

“… new initiative just announced by the University of Limerick (UL). The €52 million initiative, known as the Bernal Project, involves the largest ever philanthropic donation to any Irish university from Atlantic Philanthropies …” (more)

[Irish Times, 21 October]

“Taoiseach Enda Kenny has launched a first-of-its-kind €52m science and engineering project at the University of Limerick which will create new R&D concepts for use in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries …” (more)

[Jimmy Woulfe, Irish Examiner, 18 October]

“Taoiseach Enda Kenny is due to be greeted by protests in Limerick this Thursday, when he arrives at the University of Limerick to announce details of a €52m project in science and engineering designed to stimulate the economy …” (more)

[Anne Sheridan, Limerick Leader, 16 October]

“Billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney lost control of the board of his own charitable foundation during a bitter dispute over how to spend his remaining funds, it has been revealed …” (more)

[Joe Humphreys, Irish Times, 24 August]

“Last week the Government launched its campaign to encourage philanthropy. One Percent Difference seems to be a broad church, aimed at everything from the pennies of the poor to the fortunes of the elite …” (more)

[John McManus, Irish Times, 24 June]