GOAL team flies out to Sri Lanka to co-ordinate aid

GOAL is dispatching engineers, doctors and nurses to stricken regions after the devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

A GOAL team has flown out to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, to co-ordinate relief efforts.

An operation to feed thousands of families along India's east coast is also getting underway.

Irish aid agencies say Irish people are responding generously to the disaster, however, with the Red Cross in Dublin reporting financial donations totalling thousands of euro.

Trocaire, GOAL and Concern are also reporting large pledges of support from the public.

Meanwhile, the Government has allocated €2m in international aid.

Red Cross Chairman David Andrews said the response by Irish people has been phenomenal.

However, the UN says only the biggest relief effort the world has ever seen will be enough to help the millions left homeless.

The latest official estimates put the death toll at over 70,000, but some estimate that the final tally in Indonesia alone could top that figure.