2 into 4 does go

U2 saved the One In Four organisation from closure last week when they came up with €40,000 in emergency funding.
Based in Dublin’s Holles Street, One In Four has been offering “a voice to and support for people who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual violence” since July 2002.

Having failed to secure ongoing Department of Health funding, October 20 saw One In Four founder Colm O’Gorman putting his staff on protective notice.
“We left the announcement to the last minute because we didn’t want to alarm our clients but, yes, it looked as if we’d have to close at the end of the month,” O’Gorman tells hotpress. “Paul McGuinness, who I’d had some contact with in the past, became aware of this and organised not only the financial support but a public statement which has proved to be extraordinarily significant.”
Indeed, just hours after U2 spoke of One In Four’s “vital and important work” and the government needing “to get it together and do the right thing”, the Health Minister promised to fund them into the New Year.
Does Colm O’Gorman feel that Michael Martin was shamed into coming up with the money?
“The Minister has said since that he was always committed to the organisation,” O’Gorman resumes. “Our position was that we weren’t even able to get a meeting with officials to discuss funding. We’ve been asking the government to sign a service agreement and put our funding on an appropriate footing since October 2002.
“Thanks in part to U2, we now have a publicly expressed commitment from the Department of Health that they’ll fund the organisation next year and, most significantly, that they’ll sign a service agreement with us.”
With their €40,000 a month operational costs secured, One In Four are now in a position where they can devote all their energies to their clients.
“It’s a relief for both the staff, who’ve been living under the threat of redundancy, and our clients who’ve been enormously supportive,” says Colm O’Gorman. “Not only in terms of contacting us and saying how much they value the service, but writing letters of support to the newspapers. It underlines just how important our work here is.”