On Tuesday’s Tonight Show on Virgin TV Emma Lane-Spollen, wearing her Ukraine Civil Society Forum hat, referred to what she claimed was a policy of deterrence in relation to the arrival and facilitation of people seeking to claim asylum in Ireland.
Is the Government policy on international protection applicants a policy of deterrence?@donna_cooney1 and @EmmaLaneS discuss.@ClaireBrockTV #TonightVMTV pic.twitter.com/kqKQ1nbLir
— TonightVMTV (@TonightVMTV) March 13, 2024
An observer might wonder what that “deterrent” ought to look like given that the weekly figures for new arrivals recorded by IPAS up to March 10 showed that there were 462 new arrivals, more than any single week in 2023, and continuing a steady upward trend that began at the start of the year and which shows no sign of dissipating.
In the course of her criticism of the state that has partly funded her own career over many years, and informing viewers that “very few are coming to Ireland,” Lane-Spollen made what some might consider to be a rather ironic reference to “the permanent government.”
Presumably she meant people to think of Yes Minister civil service mandarins who lurk over the shoulders of well-meaning guys like Roderic and deploy their bureaucratic wiles in the service of turning Ireland into some Trumpian no go area for people claiming to be refugees. The record of the state would indicate that even if such persons do exist that they are little deferred to.
One of the key reasons being that what many people would consider to be the unofficial permanent government when it comes to migration issues is built around the advocacy NGOs. As Emma would know well as she has spent almost her entire career in that sphere, either directly working for one of the leading NGOs or as part of their philanthropic funding wing.
Emma is now the national coordinator of the Ukraine Civil Society Forum which was established by the Immigrant Council of Ireland in 2022. Her Linkedin profile also refers to her being involved with a consultancy company Lane-Spollen Associates, but we couldn’t find any company registered under that name in our searches of the Companies Registration Office.
Lane-Spollen was born in England and attended the New Hall boarding school in Chelmsford before taking a degree course in Trinity College Dublin. Her first job was with Shell where she rose to be a global finance advisor. Shell, once in the top ten of corporate carbon emissions offenders, and thought of as the bad guy during the Rossport pipeline dispute, would not, you might be forgiven for thinking, be good grounding for someone who went on to become the current treasurer of Friends of the Earth, Ireland.
But there are many rooms in the mansion of the corporate funded NGO world, and it is largely through the accessing of such funding that Lane-Spollen has proven her effectiveness.
As I have pointed out previously in relation to Atlantic Philanthropies and other wealthy funds, a key part of the way those bodies operate is to seed-fund and basically kick start vehicles in target areas of influence and then have the taxpaying citizen take over the life support system via state grants.
Lane-Spollen did not work for Chuck Feeney in Atlantic although she has been with NGOs who benefitted hugely from that source. She was with Comhlámh between 2001 and 2005 during which time that group received $339,980 from Atlantic Philanthropies as part of some operation called ‘Integrating Ireland.’
Lane-Spollen was responsible for that project which included the “incubation” of Le Chéile Artists Against Racism in Ireland. Another alumnus of Comhlámh is Mark Malone, who was there between 2011 and 2021, before devoting himself full time to his main role as one of the main men in the Far Right Observatory, now Hope and Courage, which has the backing of heavy hitters in the NGO world like Orla O’Connor of the National Women’s Council (NWCI).
One of the main beneficiaries of billionaire Chuck Feeney’s generosity was the Centre for Effective Services which received $23.8 million between 2008 and 2016. The CES is an excellent example of how the left liberal funds were able to basically create an entity whose support is now mostly carried by the taxpayer.
Thus, while the Centre still received over €890,000 in 2022 in legacy funding from the now closed Atlantic fund, the bulk of its income was comprised of the €1,399,760 – 52% – which came from the taxpayer through the HSE, Department of Justice and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). In 2021 the Centre was given over €93,000 by TUSLA, for whom Lane-Spollen worked for a short period in 2015 and 2016.
Emma Lane-Spollen has also been involved with other philanthropic foundations. She was deputy CEO of The One Foundation between 2007 and 2013. A study of how One Foundation and Atlantic collaborated in funding projects, Daring Voices, was published in 2013.
It is well worth a read for an insight into how the political and social objectives of the founders were pursued and achieved through the funding of key NGOs including the Children’s Rights Alliance and various migrant advocacy groups. It also makes it clear that philanthropy is a means for the funded NGOs to build “strong, working relationships” “across political parties and with civil servants.”
Lane-Spollen has also served behind the philanthropy mast with the Tomar Trust and the Tony Ryan Trust. She has also been a director of Dóchas, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, and Connect Global. She was also for a time a director of Benefacts, and is still a director and acting chairperson of Educate Together.
Her Linkedin page includes an endorsement from Harvey Koh of Dalberg who describe themselves as “entrepreneurs and innovators” batting for a “sustainable world.” Koh is one of the heavy hitters in “social innovation” whose own Linkedin page refers to his experience in what he describes as “market facilitation and venture philanthropy.” Indeed.
If there was to be a Queen of the NGOs, then Ms Lane-Spollen would surely be in the running for the title. While some in the sector might like you to imagine that their only interest in the migrancy sector is knitting socks for lads who came down on the bus from Newry with their sleeping bag, it can be a lucrative and powerful career. .