The Iona Institute spent the equivalent of a year's budget on the same-sex marriage referendum

CONSERVATIVE LOBBY GROUP the Iona Institute received a huge bump in donations ahead of the marriage equality referendum, which it spent nearly €200,000 in a bid to defeat.

According to accounts just filed by the organisation, which pushed heavily for a ‘No’ vote in the run up to the vote last May, it saw recorded income of €335,000 in the year to the end of 2015, up from the €203,000 it took in the year before.

‘Regular donations’ dropped from over €200,000 in 2014 to just below €150,000 in 2015, however the group also received more than €205,000 in donations related to the marriage equality referendum, which passed with 62% of the popular vote.

The institute spent nearly €195,000 on the campaign – virtually equivalent to its entire 2014 expenditure.

A spokesman for the Iona Institute said that the money raised during the campaign “was sourced from Irish donors”.

“Money was raised in compliance with SIPO (Standards in Public Office) rules in this regard,” he said.

Iona Institute patron Breda O'Brien

‘No’ vote

The institute and many of its members prominently pushed for a ‘No’ vote leading up to the referendum. The organisation released a video called ‘the case for man/woman marriage’ towards the end of 2012, arguing that marriage should not be “redefined” to include gay and lesbian couples.

At the start of 2015, journalist and institute patron Breda O’Brien said that she didn’t oppose civil partnerships for same-sex couples but drew the line at marriage as children become involved.

After the outcome of the vote became clear, Iona director David Quinn congratulated the ‘Yes’ side on its victory but expressed concerns about the possible consequences of the results.

Iona Institute director David Quinn

Overall the Institute spent just over €424,000 during 2015 and recorded a loss of nearly €72,000 compared to a surplus of almost €9,000 in 2014.

Spending up

Most areas of expenditures for the institute, excluding its campaign for the referendum, were either flat or recorded only minor increases or decreases through the year.

Advertising and market research costs rose by €12,000 to just under €30,000, while ‘consultancy, research and speaker fees’ increased by over €10,000 to €53,500.

The group has cash reserves of about a quarter of a million euro, down from €325,000 last year.

The organisation reported that it had just two people employed during the year. Staff costs, including those for executive directors, were largely flat at about €84,500.

As well as its work on the marriage referendum, the group has also weighed in on issues such as the place of religion in society, the future of Catholic Church-run schools and abortion.

This piece was updated to include a response from the Iona Institute.