Ireland has been giving millions in foreign aid for years to Turkey, China and others, to promote the “empowerment of women” and climate change activism. Yes, really.
According to the figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland is set to spend a total of €868 million euros on overseas aid in 2021 – a €30 million increase from 2020 – even in the midst of significant economic turmoil due to covid-19. And at least some of that is going towards what they call “development projects” in China and Mongolia.
"Additional funding will help us build on the excellent work of @Irish_Aid, meeting the needs of those furthest behind" – Minister Brophy welcomes the increase in Overseas Aid of €30m, a total of €868m in 2021. #ABetterWorld #Budget2021 @brophytalks pic.twitter.com/GsG2LwkrSg
— Irish Aid (@Irish_Aid) October 13, 2020
Ireland to double foreign aid to more than €2bn by 2030 https://t.co/ABbeTa0OjA pic.twitter.com/d2dBAyLwwz
— breakingnews.ie (@breakingnewsie) March 1, 2019
Developing what, you might ask? Why, social engineering of course.
The purpose of these aid grants, according to the Department, is to “empower women and marginalised communities, social justice, help local communities advocate for themselves and to combat climate change,” among other things. They range from €5,000 to €10,000 euros each, and can be applied for by local Chinese and Mongolian NGOs, trade unions, and even the military (for some reason), among other groups.
It’s unclear how much money in total is allocated for this scheme (and it is a scheme, in more ways than one). But one way or another the Irish state is spending, at minimum, tens of thousands of euros of taxpayer money on advocating for climate change and feminist activism in China and the Mongolian steppe. Isn’t it great to see your tax money hard at work?
Also, bear in mind that China is considered to be the second biggest economy in the world, and projected to overtake the US and become the number one biggest by 2028. Apparently our government thought they were strapped for cash.
Michael Scott has been warning us for years, in fairness.https://t.co/59Ir37fgl8
— Rob O'Hanrahan (@RobOHanrahan) December 27, 2020
Now, when Irish Aid says the money will go towards “empowering women”, maybe they’re talking about helping little girls get education, right? That’s a good cause that I think most decent people would want to get behind. Well, let’s look at the list of things they say they cannot fund with this grant:
- Individual or family support
- Major infrastructural schemes
- Educational scholarships
- Projects that involve evangelisation for the proselytising of religious beliefs
- Emergency projects that are in response to natural or human disasters
…and more. Those are the things they say this money will not go towards. So not exactly what you would call traditional charity – in fact, arguably not charity at all. Sounds more like political activism at the taxpayers’ expense.
Furthermore, between 2017 and 2019, Ireland gave a total of €23,563,000 in taxpayers’ money to authoritarian Turkey.
Turkey, which is led by autocrat Recep Erdogan, has been described by Amnesty International as “one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists” and repeatedly been accused of backing militants engaged in war crimes.
A grim reminder: Turkey is still one of the world's biggest jailers of journalists. Since 2016, at least 180 media outlets have been shut down in Turkey and scores of journalists have been imprisoned.#FreeTurkeyMedia #PostForThePress pic.twitter.com/BJ81Sy4gtb
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) May 3, 2021
We have evidence that Turkish military & coalition of Turkey-backed Syrian armed groups carried out serious violations & war crimes, including summary killings & unlawful attacks that have killed & injured civilians, during offensive in northeast Syria. https://t.co/wozimXUFPG
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) October 18, 2019
Turkey is also not an exceptionally poor country, either. While they may be worse off than Ireland financially, for a sense of scale, the average monthly income in Turkey is €753.85. To an Irish ear that might sound like nothing, but compare that to Russia, where the average monthly income is €570.59 – around €200 less.
Yet does Ireland send foreign aid to Russia? I don’t think so. And anyone who proposed doing so would be laughed out of the room and viewed as cracked. Yet any argument you could make against giving foreign aid to Russia would also apply to Turkey, while our government sees fit to give them tens of millions of euros of Irish taxpayers’ money on an ongoing basis.
It should also be noted that Turkey’s crackdown on the Kurdish people – including the leveling of people’s homes with bulldozers – seems to resemble the injustices and land disputes between Israel and Palestine which Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has spoken out against vigorously. The UN have accused Turkey of carrying out summary killings, torture, rape and widespread destruction of property against the Kurds.
U.N. Accuses Turkey of Killing Hundreds of Kurds @nytimes @ohchr https://t.co/alBtU4R9fk pic.twitter.com/3Qfc2XmI8f
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) March 10, 2017
But apparently when Turkey does this to a minority group, Coveney’s department rewards them with tens of millions of quid.
One could say the same about the Chinese State, who currently have millions of individuals from minority religions locked in concentration camps, and yet are still benefiting from Irish aid programs.
Gang rape, torture and the dreaded red X: Survivor of China's modern-day concentration camps reveals the horrors behind the walls – and the REAL purpose of the terrifying prisons#UyghurGenocide #Kazakh #xinjiang #China https://t.co/n94uuEl2Kg
— Teng Biao (@tengbiao) May 24, 2021
But I suppose asking for moral consistency from an Irish politician might be a big request.
Additionally, over the same 2017 to 2019 period, Irish taxpayers gave €89.3 million to Nigeria and €12.7 million to South Africa – despite both of those countries being the number one and number two wealthiest nations in Africa respectively.
Nigeria exports around 2 million barrels of crude oil per day according to OPEC, making it the largest exporter of crude oil in Africa, along with many other rich mineral exports. Similarly, South Africa is one of the world’s largest exporters of gold, diamonds, platinum and iron ore, contributing to its exceptional wealth relative to its neighbours.
According to the State-run organisation, Irish Aid, in their 2019 report, more than 75% of Ireland’s foreign aid that year went towards promoting “gender equality” globally. As Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney explained:
“We are also increasing our work in women’s economic empowerment, with a particular focus on women in agriculture, women’s leadership in business, and in research and learning to ensure women are centrally involved as agents of change in our work on climate action. We are committed to supporting women’s leadership at all levels, including women’s political representation and investment in women-led organisations. We support approaches that engage with men and boys to challenge the underlying gender stereotypes, patriarchal values and harmful social norms that present barriers to gender equality.”
Additionally, €175 million in taxpayer funding went towards “climate finance” over the period 2016 to 2020.
Other countries on the foreign aid list include Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia.
The top 30 list from the Department of Foregin Affairs can be viewed below in full.
You know, the Irish government have already confirmed that there will be new “significant” tax hikes for Irish workers to help the economy recover after all the economic devastation caused by the State-imposed lockdown.
Not what we wanted to hear https://t.co/1iB5QOIFvC
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) May 21, 2021
Apparently we don’t have enough money to pay for the damages, and will need to take a large chunk out of your pay packet at the end of the week to help keep the ship afloat.
After all, we couldn’t cut costs elsewhere, could we? Our money is tied up in other vitally important areas, like teaching Chinese and Mongolian peasants about the wonders of solar panels, and the gender pay gap, and things like that. I think you’ll agree that a massive tax hike for you and your family is well worth it to know that out there, somewhere, your money is helping to teach Lebanese kids about non-binary bathroom rights, or something. Money well-spent, clearly.
At a certain point, you’d almost prefer it if they just dug a hole in the middle of the Phoenix Park every year, filled it with pallets of cash and just burned the money like the Joker. At least that would look cool, and it would be no more of a waste than their spending now.
Welcome to the raving mad insane asylum that is Ireland – please enjoy your stay.