An investigation by an election watchdog against Amnesty Ireland’s receipt of a massive foreign donation to campaign for an abortion referendum was ‘procedurally flawed’, the High Court was told yesterday. The investigation was conducted by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) last year and they had concluded it by ordering Amnesty to pay back the monies to the American billionaire donor, George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. Amnesty, however, argued that the money was not used for its referendum campaign for repeal of the Eighth Amendment as the referendum had not yet been called at the time the donation was made. When OSF denied last December that it told SIPO the grant was for ‘political purposes’, nonetheless they said: “The grant in question was to fund the continuation of Amnesty’s ‘My body My Rights’ campaign, which seeks to mobilise support for a repeal of the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution. . .”

A letter read in court by counsel for Sipo Tuesday said: “Following careful consideration of the complaints made by your client, the Commission has concluded that the process leading to the adoption of the decision communicated in a letter of 17 November 2017 was procedurally flawed” and “considers it appropriate” to consent to the Court’s order to quash the original decision.

The letter also addressed a press release issued by Sipo in December 2017, which Amnesty had raised in its action. Contradicting the Commission’s previous claims, the letter says: “The Commission confirms that at no point did the OSF (Open Society Foundation) advise the Commission that the donation was for political purposes within the meaning of the Electoral Act 1997.”

Sipo also agreed to make a contribution to Amnesty’s legal costs.