USAID’s Replacement? Irish Aid Gave €1 million to Fund Abortion Globally

USAID has drawn international attention for the shocking revelation in recent weeks of the agency’s use as a tool to push progressive morality onto the world. However, the United States is not the only country to have misappropriated tax-payer money to torment the developing world. Irish Aid, known to work closely with USAID in the past, with its American counterpart now gone, may pick up the mantle of funding progressive social causes worldwide.

Ireland’s total official development assistance, meaning money spent on international aid, was €2.6 billion in 2023. Irish Aid, the state’s humanitarian development agency, in its annual report for 2023 demonstrates its involvement in pushing progressive values onto developing countries through its liberal spending of Irish tax-payer money.

In 2023, Irish Aid donated €1 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, an organisation whose goals include providing women in developing countries with access to abortion services.

Through its international activities, the International Planned Parenthood Federation claims to have provided 5.4 million abortions in 2023. The actions of the Irish government in funding abortion internationally, using Irish tax-payer money, unfairly violates individuals’ own moral judgements. It is deeply unfair to Irish tax-payers who have moral qualms with the practice of abortion, that the state dismisses their views as socially backward, and proceeds to use their money to fund such projects.

Abortion is not the only topic of socially progressive policies supported by the Irish tax-payer via Irish Aid. In 2023, ILGA World, a major LGBT advocacy organisation, received €170,000 from Irish state coffers. ILGA World is known to lobby governments and multilateral agencies across the planet to pass legislation in support of the LGBT community.

Other human rights advocacy groups known to engage with LGBT lobbying include the Front Line Defenders, Minority Rights Group, International Federation for Human Rights, Women's Environment and Development Organisation, and the Social Change Initiative. These groups received a collective €1,563,000 from Irish Aid in 2023.

Just as USAID funding tended to backfire into the United States, the Irish tax-payer similarly financed €39,000 to domestic civil society organisation AkiDwA. Akina Dada wa Africa, meaning “sisterhood” in Swahili, is a network of migrant women living in Ireland. The organisation is chaired by Longford County Councillor Uruemu Adejinmi, who has spoken extensively on the importance of diversity in Irish politics.

Knowing the bloated size of Ireland’s NGO sector, one must wonder how much tax-payer money donated by Irish Aid to these organisations went towards financing staff pay-rolls. There were over 34,000 NGOs in Ireland employing over 160,000 people in 2021 according to former NGO watch-dog Benefacts.

As Musk’s DOGE continues its audit of American spending, it will be fascinating to see how the Irish NGO industry adapts. It will be especially interesting to see the Irish Aid spending report for 2024, and whether USAID’s spending rush before the end of Joe Biden’s Presidency was replicated at home in Dublin.

With verifiable proof that the Irish government is further responsible for financing much of Ireland’s arts and media sectors through NGO spending, it may be the case that without state funding many of these agencies would otherwise not become profitable enough on their own to justify their continued existence.

As the U.S. government pulls its funding of the progressive cause worldwide, will Irish Aid be left holding the bag or will the Irish government see some sense and change its tune?