Tag Archives: Ethiopia

CLARE engineer Micheál (Mick) Ryan, who died tragically in a plane crash in Ethiopia last year, has been posthumously named the Humanitarian of the Year by the Irish Red Cross. The Lahinch man was named as the winner of the award at Wednesday’s virtual Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards, with his wife, Naoise Ryan, accepting the award on his behalf. Mick, who lost his life in an Ethopian Airlines flight last year, had dedicated his life to humanitarian work overseas. During his career, Mick worked tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable people in remote parts of the world had access to food and were protected from flooding and other disasters. Speaking of the win, Naoise said, “This award means so much to us and my only regret is that Mick isn’t here to accept it himself, I know he would be so humbled by it. To me it’s recognition of the person that he was, he was a humanitarian in every …

The people of Clare, through Trócaire, supported 260 families around the world with Christmas gifts last year. People in the county spent almost €8,000 on Trócaire gifts last year, which supported families with livestock, school books, water and healthcare in some of the poorest and most isolated places on earth. The charity said that people from across the country continue to show incredible generosity at Christmas. Since its beginning Trócaire’s gifts campaign has sold nearly 900,000 gifts. The campaign has raised over €37 million in total for Trócaire’s work to eradicate poverty in more than 20 countries in the developing world. Kilmaley man Eamonn Meehan, executive director of Trócaire, said, “I have seen the difference these gifts make on the ground. It is no exaggeration to say that they are having an immediate, practical impact on families throughout the developing world. For example, millions of people in east Africa are still fighting for survival in the face of drought and …

Special collections will take place at all masses across County Clare at the weekend, as part of a national appeal to help people caught up in the current food crisis in east Africa. Trócaire executive director Éamonn Meehan, from Kilmaley, has urged people to get behind the appeal and support the agency’s efforts to save lives in the affected areas. 25 million people in east Africa are facing starvation in the coming months and millions could die unless they receive immediate assistance. Severe drought, driven by climate change, is currently affecting Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia and this has resulted in failed harvests and the widespread death of livestock. The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for a national church collection to support Trócaire’s work in the region. “With the failure of successive rains and a prolonged drought having taken hold of the region, just surviving has now become the main challenge facing the people of east Africa,” Éamons …