Social media has been set ablaze after it was revealed that $70,000 was spent by the US government producing a “live musical event” in Ireland in the name of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt hit out at the federal spending as an example of the Biden administration’s “insane priorities” abroad, as she reiterated calls for President Donald Trump to “get the fraud, waste and abuse out of our federal government.”
“Because if you look at the waste and abuse that has run through USAID in the past several years – these are some of the insane priorities that that organisation has been spending money on,” Leavitt said.
“$1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia’s workplaces, $70,000 for a production of a DEI musical in Ireland, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia, $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru.”
But who is the Irish company at the centre of the controversy? And what type of event could the money have gone towards?
An Irish company is listed on filings published by the United States Government. The company is called Ceiliuradh, and has an address in Ventry, Co Kerry. It received a $70,000 payment in September 2022, the same month a live music event took place at the Irish Embassy, organised by a group called Other Voices. Other Voices Limited is registered at the same address, as is another company called South Wind Blows Limited.
The three companies in question are owned by a Mr P King, according to company filings. Ceiliuradh is described as a “minority owned business” and a non–profit. According to receipts from the US Department of State, it received the funding to “deliver a live musical event to promote the U.S. and Irish shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.”
On its website, Other Voices says: “Since 2001, Other Voices has brought some of the world’s leading luminaries to the westernmost tip of Europe to raise their voices and sing. Glastonbury headliners, Grammy winners, and New York Times cover stars have all joined us in West Kerry to experience the magic of our intimate, ethereal winter festival, creating a genre-defying time capsule of the musical landscape year after year.”
The same month the payment was made to Ceiliuradh, an event took place at the Irish Embassy in Dublin called ‘Dignity 2022.’
A note on the event page said: “The Biden Administration is committed to principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA). With this event we aim to highlight and celebrate the work that the Embassy, the Irish Government and our partners are doing to advance DEIA throughout Irish society. These ideals have long underpinned the strong relationship between both countries.” then-US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin said ahead of the event.”
Other Voices also said: “Inspired by the shared cultural identity and history which bonds to the two places, these live performances will bookend a full day of events hosted by the U.S. Embassy and curated by Rethink Ireland celebrating DEIA in the civil society and business sectors.
“The event will bring together key stakeholders, leaders and social justice advocates with the aim of strengthening the equality landscape in Ireland, whilst also recognising ongoing inequalities in our society, current barriers to inclusion, and steps towards a more equitable Ireland.”
Other Voices have organised a number of events, and in 2023, advertised a live concert produced by RTÉ and South Wind Blows as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023.
The U.S. The Embassy in Ireland has not yet responded to a request for comment on the funding or confirmed what concert it was spent on. Meanwhile, reaction to the funding has spilled in online, with newly re-elected Senator Rónán Mullen writing on X:
“Could this really be true? According to the new US Government, 70,000 dollars of USAID money was spent on production of a ‘DEI’ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) musical in Ireland.
“Without making a song and dance about it, we need to know what other US public funds may have been spent in pushing far-left ideologies at the Irish people.
Let the light shine.”
Former radio host Niall Boylan wrote: “70k for a DEI musical in Ireland? Anyone care to explain where and when this woke sing along happened? Then again what’s new in this country.”