The Sunday Independent has reported that Trinity has invested nearly €350,000 in Europe’s largest military contractor, in addition to €323,387 invested in one of the world’s largest cigarette producers, Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes.
Other companies in which Trinity has a stake include McDonald’s, Starbucks, Ryanair, Tiffany jewellers, Time Warner, Paddy Power Betfair, Netflix, Pepsi, Nike, and Ralph Lauren, as well as Chinese and African banks.
College invested €344,995 in BAE Systems, the third largest military contractor in the world. The British company designs and manufactures warships and submarines, which included the Tornado attack and reconnaissance jet used in the Falklands War.
In addition, Trinity has a stake worth €53,050 in Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of Trident intercontinental ballistic missiles. €72,153 is also held in the Boeing Company, which manufactures advanced weapons and fighter jets.
Trinity’s endowment fund is presently worth over €180m. The Sunday Independent reports that College’s investment package dates back 200 years and is linked to a complex trust fund made up of donations received by the university.
The revelation from the Sunday Independent comes as College faces criticism over increasing commercialisation of the institution. Trinity News reported on College’s arrangement with event promoters MCD to use the campus as a concert venue during the summer, in a move where a spokesperson for Trinity said: “the revenue raised by the initiative would go to fund the academic needs of the University.” College is seeking to sell naming rights of areas of campus to donors in a €1m deal, while last month it was announced that Ryanair would fund the appointment of a professor to the business school in a deal worth €1.5m.
College had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
