Irish rally to support millions left homeless

IRISH people have not been slow to dig deep and help address the plight of millions left homeless and ill after the Haiti earthquake.

Despite the recession, the closeness to Christmas and numerous charity appeals that followed the damage to Irish homes following the November flooding, phone lines and websites have been busy since news of the devastation started to reach Ireland in the early hours of Wednesday.

The Irish Red Cross was very pleased with the response, reporting that almost €30,000 was donated in the first 24 hours of its appeal.

“Our major floods appeal raised over €1 million, so it’s very encouraging for us that the Irish public are still willing to make donations within such short notice of this tragedy,” a spokesperson said.

Concern Worldwide had two staff travelling to Haiti yesterday, but was still trying to account for almost 30 of its 100-plus staff (most of them Haitians) in the aftermath of the quake. The organisation has appealed for donations of €5 million and had already started receiving funds on Wednesday as the scale of the tragedy emerged.

“The Irish public is once again showing its great sense of empathy in these situations, as they did for the Pakistan earthquake and the Asian tsunami, and we received donations and pledges of nearly €200,000 in the first 24 hours of starting our emergency fundraising appeal,” said Concern chief executive Tom Arnold. “As the full extent of the disaster in Haiti becomes clear, we expect that incredible support of the Irish people to continue and we are asking for them to try and give what they can, even though our own economic situation is not ideal.”

GOAL has already got more than a dozen people into the Caribbean nation and expects to get a supply of non-perishable food and items such as mosquito nets, blankets, soap, generators and sleeping mats there today, with further supplies being collecting in Florida for delivery over the weekend.

“The Irish public have been hugely generous, as they always are, regardless of the economy, and we’ve had people volunteering to give help over there. What we really need are medical staff and engineers, because the figures being reported tell us that three million people are going to need shelter,” said GOAL director John O’Shea.

Trócaire had initially pledged to commit €200,000 to the relief efforts, but is expecting to increase the figure based on the €55,000 received by teatime yesterday.

“The ultimate amount will be based on assessment of the needs on the ground and the final total raised through donations,” a spokesperson said.

In Dublin, Rev David Gillespie will stage a sit-out from this morning in aid of earthquake victims outside St Ann’s Church in Dawson Street where he is vicar, continuing until 6pm each day until Tuesday.

His Black Santa Sit-out before Christmas raised €17,500 for local and Third World charities.