The Lord giveth . . . and giveth

If you’re an Irish firm seeking funds, your prayers could be answered by an unlikely celestial source: faith-based investors. Just make sure your company is squeaky-clean first

Many Irish businesses are sure to have turned their hopes and hands skyward, appealing to a higher power for help in balancing the books. The prayers of David Hourihane, however, were answered in a very real way.

Hourihane, a former Dublin corporate lawyer, was looking for investors into his €70 million Ireland Energy Efficiency Fund (IEEF), and €8.5 million of it ended up coming from an unlikely source: the retirement fund of Ireland’s ...