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November 18, 2005
GOAL welcomes the decision of the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Dermot Ahern to set up a Rapid Response Force.
In a statement John O’Shea, GOAL CEO said that the poorest
of the poor and the most vulnerable on the planet, can only benefit
from the establishment of such a unit.
“GOAL has long been calling on the International Community
to set up a standing fire brigade style force which would respond
immediately to man-made and natural disasters. Had such a force
been in place during the past thirty years, millions of lives would
have been saved.
It’s unlikely an Irish unit will be equipped to meet the
needs of the staggering number of people who suffer because of the
sheer indifference of the International Community – but the
initiative could act as a catalyst for real change.”
The aid official added that he was looking forward to hearing more
precise details from the government of how the unit would be resourced
and how it would operate in a disaster situation.
JOHN O'SHEA, GOAL, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
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