Charity set up in Andrew Grene's name

A charity has been set up in honour of an Irish United Nations worker killed in the Haitian earthquake.

Andrew Grene, assistant to the head of the UN mission in the Caribbean state, was confirmed dead a week after the disaster on January 19.

The funeral of the 44-year-old, who also held United States citizenship, took place in Belturbet, Co Cavan today.

The Andrew Grene Foundation was set up to provide educational help and other support to the Haitian people.

It has been established with the support of his family by volunteers and all funds will be used for aid work on the ground.

Mr Grene was buried next to the Church of Ireland in Belturbet, where his funeral service was held.

His family asked mourners for donations to be made to the Foundation instead of flowers.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese were represented by their aides-de-camp, while Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith represented the Government.

Chris Coleman, a UN official who worked with Andrew in Haiti, was also present.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin led tributes to Mr Grene on news of his death, hailing him as a true humanitarian.

Mr Grene was born in Chicago and lived in Belturbet, Co Cavan as a child. He later studied at Trinity College Dublin.

His wife Jennifer is from Co Down originally but the family had been living in the US.

He worked for the UN in some of the world’s most volatile countries, including the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

He also helped to broker the peaceful transition of power from Indonesia to an independent East Timor.

Mr Grene’s superior, the head of the UN mission Hedi Annabi, also lost his life when the earthquake struck.

Mr Annabi’s body was found in the rubble of the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince which collapsed in the disaster.

Andrew Grene is survived by his twin brother Gregory, wife Jennifer, children Patrick, Alex and Rosamund and mother Ethel.

Donations to the charitable foundation can be made by logging on to www.andrewgrene.org