Department of Foreign Affairs secretary general, David Cooney, said it would ‘not be appropriate’ for Ireland to cut aid to Uganda, despite anti-homosexuality law.

Cooney has announced that suspending aid to Uganda would not be the right course of action to take. He said, “Whatever about the action of the [Ugandan] Government, we do not feel that it would be appropriate to cut off our assistance that is going to directly to these people.”

The secretary general stressed that Ireland’s financial aid was not going towards Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, but was going directly to the people of Uganda, and was vital to helping projects that combat HIV/AIDS.

He added, “It’s a matter of education and bringing people along… I don’t think our reaction should be that we would cease aid.”

So far, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the World Bank have all suspended their aid to Uganda in protest of the controversial anti-gay legislation signed into law by President Museveni.