Development agencies in U2 protest
Ireland's Caritas agency, Trocaire has joined Catholic missionary orders and other development organisations in criticising U2 and singer Bono over the group's bid to shift its affairs to the Netherlands to avoid Irish tax.
And the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland (DDCI) representing Concern Worldwide, Trocaire, Oxfam and various other Catholic missionary orders is launching an 'international song contest' inviting re-worded versions of U2 classics to highlight the band's stance on tax.
Speaking at a demonstration against the band's actions outside Ireland's Ministry of Finance yesterday DDCI coordinator Nessa ni Chasaide said the protest was to highlight the fact that U2's tax avoidance measures deprives the Irish exchequer of taxation revenue that could be spent on development aid.
"Bono has championed the call for increases in aid to impoverished countries, yet in his personal life he is engaged in tax avoidance issues and it is tax avoidance that is undermining the possibility of developing countries fighting their way out of poverty," she added.
Source: CathNews