Sir, – Your editorial of February 22nd, "The Irish Times view on the role of NGOs: power and protest", sums up the close and complicated relationship between civil society and the State.
In general, civil society organisations (and there are over 30,000 of them in Ireland involved in every facet of national life) are motivated to respond to the needs of people and communities by providing support and advocating for change. Their missions reflect this.
Most organisations do a bit of both, with some focusing on one over the other, and a smaller number again either specialising in services or exclusively campaigning for change.
All of these approaches – and your editorial puts it well – “contribute to a vibrant civil society and bring about positive change”.
Importantly, once formally constituted, such independent organisations must focus exclusively on doing whatever is needed (whether it is advocacy and/or services) to advance their missions.
In making funding available, all funders, public and philanthropic, should respect this imperative on organisations: advancing the mission is paramount, all other considerations are secondary.
The State’s White Paper, “Supporting voluntary activity”, acknowledges the community and voluntary sector’s role in policymaking.
It commits to respect the autonomy and diversity of the sector and acknowledges its role as a legitimate social partner.
If Government is sincere in these objectives it should ensure that the crucial funding it supplies is never used as a bargaining chip to control what such organisations can do when advancing their missions. – Yours, etc,
IVAN COOPER,
Director of Public Policy,
The Wheel,
(National association
of community and
voluntary organisations,
charities and social
enterprises), Dublin 2.