Irish soldier deployed to help stricken nation

AN Irish soldier has been deployed to Haiti as part of a major UN mission to help the stricken nation prepare for the impact of the hurricane.

Captain Tim O’Connor jetted out at short notice on Wednesday morning as part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC).

Captain O’Connor is a mechanical engineer in the Defence Forces Corps of Engineers. He is based on the Naval Base in Haulbowline, and has deployed to Haiti on two previous occasions.

He was a member of the Irish Government assessment team sent to the region following the earthquake in January 2010, and was subsequently seconded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for two months until early April to manage a camp construction project in Port au Prince.

Capt O’Connor’s primary role will be to conduct engineering assessments of critical infrastructure such as buildings, sanitation and water supply.

Capt O’Connor, who is a native of Bandon, in Co Cork, has been a member of the Defence Forces since 2001 and has served overseas in Liberia and Chad. He played a key role in the construction of the Irish Camp in Chad.

The UNDAC team, which consists of a range of disaster response experts, is part of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).