Former boss of American Ireland Fund charity earned over €550k for five months' work

The former head of a well-known US-based charity earned over €550,000 for just five months work.

David Cronin was paid $645,107 (€569,661) for five months’ work with the American Ireland Fund (AIF) last year, according to new documentation lodged by the philanthropic organisation with the US tax authorities.

The Killarney native joined the charity as its Chief Executive and President in June 2019, but later stepped down from his role as chief executive and president of the AIF in May of last year, citing family reasons.

Mr Cronin was replaced at AIF by Ms Caitriona Fottrell, who was paid $237,274 for the year.

This payment which was mainly made up of base pay of $211,414.

The Irish Independent has reported that this package includes a severance pay-out of $275,004, according to the documentation, and a bonus of $70,000.

Mr Cronin’s base pay totalled $286,767 and he also received $13,336 in non-taxable benefits.

The newspaper also confirmed that Mr Cronin’s 2020 pay followed a pay package from June to the end of December 2019 of $345,522.

Commenting on the news, a spokesperson for the AIF said that Mr Cronin's severance payment was "pursuant to Mr Cronin’s employment contract, which was subject to review and approval by the Compensation Committee of the Board, and included an analysis by an outside compensation consultant to benchmark with similar US non-government organisations (NGOs)/charity organisations."

The AIF was founded in 1976 by businessman and former INM boss Anthony O’Reilly in association with former US ambassador to Ireland, the late Dan Rooney.