'Sure what else could I do?': Gala for Gaza born out of empathy and executed through community spirit

Smoke billows over Gaza Strip following an Israeli bombardment, as seen from southern Israel on Sunday. Picture: Ariel Schalit/AP

Melanie McGovern does not regard herself as an extraordinary person but, on the evidence of what was achieved in a function room in Galway on Saturday night, she will do well to convince everybody present otherwise.

When I put it to her that raising €100,000 for causes in Gaza in the space of just a few months is remarkable, she simply shrugs.