Charity Commission Probes Joseph Rowntree Trust Over Reported £275,000 Gifts to INLA-Linked Group

The Charity Commission has demanded that the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust explain its funding after reports that the Quaker-linked charity gave £275,000 to a group connected with a paramilitary organisation. The Times reported the claim, and the regulator is investigating it.

According to the Times, the funds went to Teach Na Failte, an unregistered charity that supports prisoners and ex-offenders. The newspaper reported that the group was founded by the Irish Republican Socialist Party, the political wing of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). The Times also reported that the York-based Rowntree trust has been giving money to Teach na Failte since 2014.

On Friday, the Charity Commission ordered the trust to “explain and justify” why it funded the group. The source notes that Teach na Failte’s offices were raided earlier this year by anti-terrorism police investigating sex-trafficking, violent intimidation and “paramilitary-style attacks.” The source does not report any charges arising from that investigation.

The INLA was formed in 1974 during the Northern Ireland conflict. It has been linked with bombings and shootings in Northern Ireland and London, including the killing of shadow Northern Ireland secretary Airey Neave in Westminster in 1979. The INLA declared the end of its armed campaign in 2009.

A spokesperson for the Rowntree trust told the Times that the trust “rejected all violence” and supports “equality, rights and reconciliation.” The spokesperson defended the funding by saying Teach na Failte was “committed to non-violence.” They described it as a “support group for prisoners and ex-prisoners” who were associated with the INLA.

The regulator’s demand puts the trust’s grant decisions under direct scrutiny, with the trust asked to give its reasons in writing for funding a group whose offices had been raided (Luke 12:48). The source does not say how the Charity Commission will respond to the trust’s explanation.

Source: Read the original report