92-year-old philanthropist Chuck Feeney passes away

Chuck Feeney, a successful American businessman and generous donor, has passed away at 92 years old.

Mr Feeney, using his own foundation called the Atlantic Philanthropies, gave more than $8bn (£6. 5bn) to different causes in five different continents.

Over the past forty years, the foundation donated $570 million (£465 million) to various causes in Northern Ireland.

It focuses on health, education, fixing problems, and people’s rights.

In 2020, Mr. Feeney closed the foundation. Before that happened, the foundation gave away over $8 billion in grants. The grants were mostly given in the United States, the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Vietnam, Bermuda, and Cuba.

Charles F Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1931, during a tough time when money was scarce, to parents who were Irish-American.

His mom had a job at a hospital helping sick people, and his dad worked in an office dealing with insurance policies.

The kind person discovered his family’s past in County Fermanagh. This is where his grandmother grew up near the village of Kinawley.

The business owner earned his money by selling expensive duty free items to people who travel to different places. However, he chose not to show off his wealth.

He created the Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982, which is a global organization that uses his money to support various charitable causes and projects worldwide.
For the first 15 years of his charitable work, Mr. Feeney secretly donated money without anyone knowing, which is why he was called the James Bond of philanthropy. He only revealed himself to the public in 1997.

He really liked helping universities on both sides of the Irish border and gave them a lot of money.

In 2012, Mr. Feeney got a special degree from the universities in Ireland.

Helping people live together peacefully.

The Irish deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, expressed his sadness in a statement.

He said Mr. Feeney was very generous and his donations had made a big difference in the lives of people in Ireland, both in the north and south, of all ages.

Mr Martin said that he had worked closely with Mr Feeney and wanted to give special recognition to Chuck’s consistent support for peace and bringing people together in Northern Ireland for a long time.

Queen’s University Belfast received a lot of money from Mr Feeney’s grants from 1993 to 2015. They were given a total of $132m (£107m).

It also got the biggest donation from the Atlantic Philanthropies, receiving $24m (£19m) in 2012.

It was for the university’s health science research center called the Center for Experimental Medicine.

Mr Feeney also supported integrated education in Northern Ireland to encourage reconciliation and peace.

Over the years, around £8m was given to the Integrated Education Fund for different projects. This area was the first to receive funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies in Northern Ireland in 1991.

Atlantic Philanthropies quoted Mr. Feeney as saying that he always believed in using his money to help others.