Mr. Seamus Mulconry:

In point of fact that is already happening, although it is not so much a PR campaign. What is happening is that people's patterns of giving are changing.

When we did the research we found that people were withdrawing into their local communities. Someone in a focus group put it very well by saying, "My next-door neighbour has lost his job and he may lose his house. I'd prefer to be giving the money to him than to an overseas charity". The overseas charities are probably being hardest hit. What has kept them going is that they probably have the most sophisticated fundraising mechanisms, but they are under severe pressure. There is an understandable tendency among Irish people to focus on their friends and neighbours in their own communities. That is already happening and the overseas charities are struggling most in terms of fundraising at the moment.