Power of philanthropy - The greatest gift of all — possibility

In New York’s Lincoln Centre last May over 1,300 Irish Americans and their friends attended a dinner which, in the middle of the most difficult economic circumstances in decades, raised $4.3m (€3.5m) for the American Ireland Fund (AIF).

That evening, AIF also announced that they had reached their $100m (€81m) fundraising goal 19 months ahead of schedule.

This phenomenal largesse was a resounding vote of confidence in the AIF and the great work they have undertaken over the past decisive decades on this small island but it was also a huge vote of confidence in the idea that possibility and Ireland still have a lot in common. The moral support, the solidarity and cross-generational loyalty to the ’ould sod may be even more valuable, more telling in the longer term than the millions of dollars at this very low point in our economic dependency.