Greg Daly
Documents released by the State’s ethics watchdog have shown that a group that campaigned for reduced religious influence in Church-owned schools was a campaigning organisation that received funds far in excess of amounts permitted for such groups.
A complaint submitted to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) about Equate: Equality in Education, days ahead of a conference on education access held on Croke Park and attended by Minister for Education Bruton led SIPO to observe in July 2017 that most of Equate’s core objectives constitute political purposes under the terms of the Electoral Act 1997.
While under electoral law campaigning groups can receive a maximum of €2,500 per year from any one donor, Equate is believed to have received over €400,000 from the One Foundation, headed by Declan Ryan, a son of Ryanair founder Tony Ryan and a member of Equate’s board.
Equate founder Michael Barron has been reported as claiming that SIPO documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show the commission was satisfied with Equate’s responses and closed complaints against it.
Documents in the possession of The Irish Catholic, however, show that SIPO identified Equate as a political campaigning group in July 2017, and over subsequent months consistently sought to have the organisation release its bank statements to it. In November 2017 the organisation was wound down.
Read more: Bankrolling restrictions on religion