Amnesty hits out on foreign funding

The head of Amnesty Ireland has said if the human rights organisation is breaking the law by accepting donations from foreign philanthropic organisations, then “so is the Irish Government”.

Colm O’Gorman made the claim as he defended Amnesty Ireland’s decision not to return funding it received for its campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment, despite being ordered to do so by the ethics watchdog.

Last Saturday, the Irish Examiner reported how the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) had informed Amnesty Ireland that €137,000 it sought and received from the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations was illegal under the Electoral Act.