Charities to donate €2m

AID agencies Trócaire and Concern will between them donate €2 million towards victims of the tsunami disaster, matching the Government's contribution.

Trócaire yesterday announced it was raising its allocation from €100,000 to €500,000, while Concern upped its contribution from €250,000 to €1.5m.

Both appealed for public support to allow them increase their contributions.

The Government's €2m aid pledge is substantially overshadowed by the €21m pledged by the British Government and the US Government's promise of €25.7m.

Head of Trócaire's International Department, Mike Williams, said it was vital that the distribution of emergency relief was co-ordinated between all the development agencies. He called on the UN and the EU to take the lead by supporting experienced agencies on the ground.

The Irish Red Cross has already received thousands of euro in donations, while UNICEF Ireland has pledged €150,000 to the relief effort.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched an appeal for €32.3m. Aid agencies yesterday reported strong feedback from the Irish public.

Members of a Cork-based charity have joined the world's largest relief operation in India.

Maureen Forrest, a director of The Hope Foundation, made an urgent appeal last night for funds as charity members arrived in India's worst hit state, Tamil Nadu. Hope's director in India, Geeta Venkadakrishnan, and its overseas director, Sr Jenny Browne, a sister of Ms Forrest, went to the region to co-ordinate relief efforts.

"Our people will link up with other non-governmental organisations and set up clinics, supply blankets, shelter and water purification systems to prevent cholera," Ms Forrest said.

Separately, aid agency GOAL has commenced a major feeding operation in Tamil Nadu. The GOAL team is working in Nagapattinum, the most seriously affected region of a province which has lost 7,000 people. GOAL is responsible initially for feeding 1,000 families but is hoping to expand that effort to 10,000 families by the weekend.

A team lead by Dundalk engineer Paul Kelly left Dublin airport yesterday for the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, also devastated in the disaster.

Concern has a team in Tamil Nadu and is sending two Irish personnel to Sri Lanka today.