Irish Red Cross aims to raise €1 million for Floods Appeal

"This is a terrific response from people right around Ireland who want to help people affected by floods in their own communities and other communities," said the Chairman of the Irish Red Cross, David Andrews.

Over €150,000 in funds has been received by the Irish Red Cross over the course of the last two days.
"We need funds to be able to give people affected by the floods money so that they can get back on their feet," stated David Andrews.

This weekend dozens of shops throughout the country will accept donations for the Irish Red Cross Flood Disasters Appeal.
Vodafone Ireland has set-up donation facilities in all of its 43 stores around Ireland in addition to a cash donation of €50,000 to the appeal and has issued a call to its 2.21 million customers to donate what they can through 1850 50 70 70, or online through www.redcross.ie

Public collections will also take place in all 23 Superquinn shops throughout the country this weekend.

The media have also been supportive in the provision of advertising airtime and space, enabling the Irish Red Cross to thank the people of Ireland for their support for previous appeals and to inform them of this new appeal for this domestic disaster.
Today's announcement comes as Irish Red Cross volunteers continue to provide help to victims of floods throughout Ireland. To date Irish Red Cross ambulances in Cork, Galway, Tipperary and Waterford have been working with state agencies to assist victims of the floods.

In Cork Irish Red Cross volunteers delivered meals on wheels to people stranded in their homes on the north side of Cork City. This follows extensive operations throughout Cork City and affected towns around the county since last Thursday, helping hospital staff reach their workplaces and providing blankets to those affected.

In Galway, two 4x4 ambulances and their crews are available to help in the Ardrahan village area and in Connemara. Red Cross ambulance crews - who are all volunteers - have also been made available to the state to help people in the Tipperary town of Clonmel, should the state emergency services need this additional support.

In Clare, local members of the Irish Red Cross in Ennis distributed blankets to householders.

In Carlow, local members of the Irish Red Cross are on standby to assist with evacuations of people if required.

In Limerick, the Red Cross has written to the Crisis Management Teams in both the county and city, offering the services of 200 local members of the Red Cross and nine vehicles based in the county, including two 4x4 vehicles.

Notes to Editor
- Interviews with Irish Red Cross spokespersons can be arranged.
- The Irish Red Cross has assisted victims of floods in Ireland on several occasions in the past, most recently when floods struck Nenagh earlier this year and assistance was needed to evacuate nursing homes.
- The Irish Red Cross has focussed on building-up a stock of vehicles that are capable of helping people in floods and other off-road situations, having invested €3.5 million in both off-road ambulances and other vehicles in the last decade.
- There are approximately 6000 members of the Irish Red Cross who are all volunteers serving in local communities in every county in Ireland.

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