D.C. Friends of Ireland is an organization that seeks to promote closer ties between the American and Irish peoples and to celebrate Irish heritage and culture. The organization is closely aligned with the American labor union movement.

The organization sponsors an annual, high-dollar fundraiser called “Irish Festival.”

The event raises money that is donated to charities and other organizations in Ireland. The festival honors a person every year, generally a labor union official of Irish heritage. ¹ After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Irish Festival resumed in 2022. ²

Overview

D.C. Friends of Ireland is an organization that ostensibly seeks to promote closer ties between Americans and Ireland. The organization is made up of Americans of Irish heritage and is based on similar “Friends of Ireland” organizations. ³

The organization has close ties to the American labor union movement and most officers of the organization are members of labor unions. ⁴

The annual fundraiser for the organization is an Irish Festival that is held in a Washington D.C. hotel. The Irish Festival is a high-dollar fundraising event where individuals and organizations purchase seats and tables. ⁵ The event honors a person of Irish heritage, who is usually a labor union official. ⁶

The Irish Festival was first held in 1992 and it was held annually until 2020. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Irish Festival was put on hiatus for two years and resumed in 2022. ⁷

The Irish Festival is a fundraiser both for the organization and for charities in Ireland. Most of the charities that the organization donates to are labor-union-related charities. ⁸

Political Positions

Despite close ties to the American labor union movement, D.C. Friends of Ireland does not take formal positions on American political issues. It takes positions on issues related to Ireland; ⁹ like many Irish-American organizations, it a critic of the British government and its policies in Northern Ireland. It is a supporter of an Ireland-wide referendum to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. ¹⁰

Leadership

The chairman of D.C. Friends of Ireland is Terry O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan is the president of LIUNA and has been honored for his Ireland-related activism by Sinn Fein, a controversial left-wing Irish political party that supports Irish unification. ¹¹

O’Sullivan has employed his Irish heritage to attack Republicans. In a 2016 speech at an event, he used a speech commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising to attack Republicans. ¹²

Finances

According to its 2019 tax return, D.C. Friends of Ireland raised $250,359 and spent $192,014. It had $212,036 in assets. ¹³

The organization made nearly $90,000 in charitable contributions to Irish-related charities in the U.S. and Ireland. ¹⁴

1. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
2. [1] D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
3. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
4. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
5. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
6. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
7. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
8. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
9. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
10. D.C. Friends Of Ireland Irish Festival. Ebook. D.C. Friends of Ireland. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://nabtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invite-2022_v8.pdf.
11. LIUNA President Honored At Sinn Féin Conference In Ireland.” LIUNA. May 26, 2012. https://www.liuna.org/news/story/liuna-president-honored-at-sinn-f%C3%A9in-conference-in-ireland.
12. Carswell, Simon. “American Letter: Union Leader Uses 1916 Speech To Attack Trump.” Irish Times. Mar. 12, 2016. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/american-letter-union-leader-uses-1916-speech-to-attack-trump-1.2569703.
13. D.C. Friends Of Ireland, Return of an Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522315220/202013189349103466/full.
14. D.C. Friends Of Ireland, Return of an Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522315220/202013189349103466/full.