Your support is essential to our work. As a registered Irish charity, in every element of our work, we strive to maintain the utmost standard of governance, accountability and transparency.

The Irish Red Cross is a registered Irish charity. Our charity number is CHY3950.

How your donation is used

As a charity seeking donations from the public, we the Irish Red Cross aim to comply with the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising.

To read how your donation is used, click donor charter.

We endeavour to keep all costs to a minimum ensuring that the maximum percentage of each donation goes to those in need. On average, a minimum of 93% of every donation to an emergency appeal goes towards that specific response.

Accounting Procedures

Annual accounts are independently audited and made publicly available. Our Accounting procedures since 2015 are in line with SORP, as recommended by the Charity Commission of England and the governance code of Ireland.

The Irish Red Cross was one of the early adopters of the voluntary Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising and has also fully complied with the ‘Code of Practice for Good Governance of Community, Voluntary and Charitable Organisations in Ireland’. We also fully comply with The Wheel’s Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising.

Salaries

The Irish Red Cross Board of Directors are unpaid volunteers who receive no salary for their time given to the charity.

The Irish Red Cross Secretary General (CEO) currently receives an annual salary of €95,000.

150 Years of Humanitarian Action

A century and a half ago, an ambitious idea became reality with the establishment of the ICRC and relief Societies, known today as National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The Red Cross Movement, with 97 million members worldwide, is the largest humanitarian aid organisation in the world today. It was founded by Swiss businessman Henri Dunant following the battle of Solferino in northern Italy in 1859, which saw over 40,000 people killed or wounded.

Horrified by the anguished cries of the war-wounded left to suffer and die on the battlefield (many of whom pleaded for the coup de grace), Dunant organised help from the nearest village, Solferino. The wounded, from both sides, were ferried to makeshift hospitals in local homes and barns.

Dunant returned to Geneva where he penned his account of the battle in "A Memory of Solferino", urging people to set up voluntary relief societies to deal with the hardship of war. His book led to the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This organisation was established by Dunant and four Geneva businessmen in 1863. The following year, the first Geneva Convention for the alleviation of the conditions of the wounded in armies in the field was adopted, together with the emblem of the Red Cross on a white background.

The principles and aims of the ICRC were replicated in National Societies around the world with members trained in First Aid and emergency care. It was decided that the ICRC should continue to be run by Swiss nationals. After World War I it was decided that National Societies should form their own umbrella group also based in Geneva - this was known as the League of Red Cross Societies but today is called the Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The Irish Red Cross Society is a member of the IFRC which has 192 member societies around the world.