Ahern in €5m pledge to township trust

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday pledged €5 million in support for the Irish mass volunteer project building homes across South Africa’s poverty-stricken townships.

On the first day of his visit to the country, Mr Ahern praised the work of the Niall Mellon Trust which has housed more than 5,000 families in the past six years.

Irish businessman Mr Mellon, who set up the project after visiting a shanty town during a vacation in 2002, welcomed the backing as key to lifting people out of despair as the Taoiseach handed over one of the homes built by volunteers two months ago to a local family at the Freedom Park township.