Former Dublin editor's new mission in Ukraine

Joe, who was the news editor with North Dublin Newspapers for six years in the early nineties, has worked since then for many years on a number of Red Cross and other humanitarian operations.

His latest post is to run the office of the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent societies (IFRC) in the Ukranian capital of Kiev. The IFRC supports local Red Cross work which has been to the forefront of dealing with emergencies and looking after refugees.

Already hard-hit by poverty, with 29% of the population living below the poverty line, Ukraine also continues to suffer from the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear installation explosion in 1986. Pollution of both air and water remains a problem, while the north-east of the country continues to suffer from radiation contamination.

More recently, Ukraine was badly hit by flooding, which affected much of Central Europe, in 2001, wiping out 100,000 acres of agricultural land, levelling homes and contaminating much of the water supply. This country of 48 million people is also home to large numbers of refugees, 85% of whom fled Afghanistan. The Red Cross has devised programmes to deliver 400 food parcels per month to refugees in Kiev, and has invested a million Euro in psychological programmes to help 15,000 people who need psychological support still because of the Chernobyl disaster.

Joe, who is a graduate of the DIT Journalism School, Dublin has already served on three separate occasions in the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine. He has also worked in Guinea, Liberia and in Somalia in 1993 when the country had to be evacuated.

He is currently based in Geneva where he has been working in the Headquarters of the IFRC. Although born in the UK, Joe was brought-up in Dublin, attending St Conleth's College and Dún Laoghaire Community College. His home is in Shillelagh, Co. Wicklow.

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