THE FUTURE of the International Fund for Ireland has been plunged into uncertainty with the announcement from Republicans in the House of Representatives that they want to terminate all US government contributions to the group.
The latest decision is the most serious blow yet to the fund, which has come under increasing scrutiny from Republicans in recent months.
Although it has other benefactors beyond the US government – the EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all contribute to the fund – the drop-off in support on Capitol Hill is a major problem.
The 25-year-old group was set up by the British and Irish governments. Its website states that it “encourages contact, dialogue and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists throughout Ireland”.
The decision to seek elimination of US funding for the fund comes in the context of a general Republican push to cut government spending.
Party elders have come under pressure from newly elected members, often backed by the Tea Party, to keep an election pledge to cut $100 billion from the US federal budget.
When the powerful House Appropriations Committee released its detailed proposals last Friday, its chairman, Republican congressman Hal Rogers, noted that the plan included “the largest reduction in discretionary spending in the history of our nation”.
The raft of proposals was produced at breakneck speed to enable it to be voted upon this week.
With Republicans holding a sizeable majority in the 435-member House of Representatives, passage is a near certainty.
Such an outcome would not necessarily be the end of the road for the Ireland fund.
The Democratic-controlled Senate will take a dim view of the House Republicans’ package of proposed cuts.
A compromise will have to be decided between the two chambers before March 4th – the date when current funding runs out — otherwise federal government services will shut down.
Still, the fund will face a formidable battle if it is to resurrect its cause in the Senate.
The proposed elimination of fund support, which Republicans say would save $17 million (€13 million) per year, is a tiny item within a plan that includes huge cuts against higher-profile Democratic priorities.
These include high-speed rail development (to be cut by $2.5 billion), a well-known early education programme called Head Start ($1.1 billion) and funding of community health centres ($1 billion).
The proposals are intended to form the basis of a “continuing resolution” which will fund the federal government from March 4th until the end of September, which marks the end of the 2011 fiscal year.
They are not to be confused with the budget plan presented by US president Barack Obama yesterday, which pertains to fiscal year 2012.