Concern boss urges move to stabilise Lebanon

A senior Irish aid worker has warned that Lebanon is in danger of becoming destabilised by the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Speaking in the wake of the latest car bomb in Beirut in which eight people died, Anne O’Mahony, the director of international programming with Concern Worldwide, said the economic and social pressures being placed on Lebanon were immense.

“The number of refugees in Lebanon is now in excess of a million and that figure is predicted to rise by 500,000 in the coming year,” said Ms O’Mahony. “For a small country with a base population of only four million, that is a huge burden to bear.”