The Raymond Georis Prize honouring outstanding contributions to philanthropy was awarded this weekend to the late Mr Ray Murphy, senior adviser with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, who passed away two months ago. The award was made in the presence of over 500 members of the European Foundation Community for Mr Murphy’s legacy to the importance of civil society. His wife, Caitriona O’Driscoll was in Madrid to receive the Prize on his behalf.

The 2007 Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy in Europe was presented at the 18th Annual General Assembly of the European Foundation Centre. The Prize was launched three years ago by the Network of European Foundations’ Mercator Fund and aims to reward innovative high-impact European initiatives that illustrate European leadership on global and social issues.

“Ray Murphy was committed to social justice all his life and brought passion and enthusiasm to his philanthropic work with the aim of helping the disadvantaged and vulnerable,” said Mr Georis, the Prize’s namesake and a member of the jury.

The jury was chaired by Javier Solana Madariaga, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union.

“His outgoing personality, strong sense of justice made him a skilful grant-maker and an asset to all the organisations he worked for,” said Mr Georis. “Mr Murphy’s impact on the philanthropic scene in Ireland was huge and he was known and respected by the largest foundations in America and Europe.”

The Award aims to underline the important role that European foundations and the European philanthropic community play in the future of world peace, security and development. It was created in honour of the contribution made by Mr Raymond Georis, widely hailed as the “Father” of European philanthropy. The Prize’s goal is to annually recognise the innovative work of successive generations which have followed in the footsteps of this exceptional man of vision.

“The Prize aims to reward individuals or organisations that really make a difference to people’s lives,” said Mr Georis. The Jury for the Prize said that the choice of Mr Murphy as this year’s winner stemmed from Mr Murphy’s life achievement - he was devoted to social justice, the development of the role of civil society and philanthropy in Ireland, Europe and elsewhere.

The Mercator Fund press release, 30th May 2007