Ireland

The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland is seeking applications from groups using sports to tackle exclusion and isolation in disadvantaged areas. Sports Relief was set up by Comic Relief and BBC Sport.

In Northern Ireland Sport Relief will distribute £120,000 in 2005-2006. Grants will be in the range of £250 to £5,000, with small grants classified as under £2,000.

The Irish Heart Foundation is inviting people to go to Cuba from 25th October - 6th November 2005 to raise money for the charity.

Starting and finishing in Havana, the walkers will be expected to walk a minimum of 10 miles per day. They will also be expected to raise ‚€4,800.

The Foundation raises over ‚€225,000 annually from overseas walks.

Irish people are expected to give 450 million euro to charity this year, according to a new wide ranging study on charitable giving in Ireland. The study, Good Intentions: Consumer Preferences for Charities in Ireland, was undertaken by research body Amarach Consulting.

Two new awards for excellence in fundraising were presented at the recent Northern Ireland Fundraising Convention in Belfast. The awards recognised both professional and volunteer fundraisers´efforts.

Joan Burney, chief executive of Cinemagic, was given the Professional Fundraiser of the Year award. She was nominated by Coca Cola.

The Mater Foundation is holding a national raffle this summer in aid of the Symptomatic Breast Cancer Unit in Dublin.

Winners will share cash prizes worth ‚€6,000. The closing date for the raffle is 2nd August, with the draw 5th August

The Mater Foundation was established in 1985 as the official fundraising body of the Mater Misericordiae General Hospital in Dublin.

The K Club, venue for the Ryder Cup in 2006, is the venue for a charity golf event in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation on 11th July.

Golfers will be playing the Palmer Course at one of Ireland's top golf venues.

The day will include dinner and the winners will receive the Irish Times Perpetual Trophy.

The Cross Border Consortium comprising Co-operation Ireland, the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and ADM/CPA is calling for funding applications. The aim of the programme is to reinforce progress towards a peaceful and stable society and to promote reconciliation.

Irish financier and philanthropist, JP McManus, is hosting the world's most lucrative charity golf event on July 4th and 5th at Adare Manor in County Limerick. Held every five years, the last JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am raised ‚€20 million for local charities.

A Galway publican's generosity is set to provide a windfall estimated at ‚€10 million for the local branch of St Vincent de Paul. The charity was left a pub by Maureen O'Connell, a spinster who died in 1998.

The Galway city centre pub left in the will will be sold later this year. Legal issues delayed the sale until this year.

A charity auction in aid of Our Lady's Hospital for sick children in Crumlin, Dublin raised ‚€50,000 last week.

Held in Adams Auction rooms, 167 lots of arts were auctioned, including pieces by Clea Von de Grijn, Sara Walker, Charlie Whisker and Mary Rose Binchy.

The highlight of the evening was a collection of poems and essays by Seamus Heaney which raised ‚€5,000.