Masks deal fell through when Heroes Aid learned Irish media company was middleman

Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, Medical Director of Heroes-Aid (Left) with Mary Leahy, CEO of Heroes-Aid (Second from the Right) with frontline medical staff at the Safetynet Primary Care community assessment hub in the Mater Hospital during a delivery of essential PPE equipment from Heroes-Aid.

A deal to bring 150,000 masks to Ireland from China foundered after a fundraising group discovered that the €108,000 bill was payable to Irish festival management company Roqu Media International rather than a Chinese wholesaler.

Roqu, a company paid €14.1 million by the HSE to import ventilators from China, had offered masks to Covid fundraisers Heroes Aid at a cost of €0.72 per unit.