| Media Statement, 20th February 2007
John O’Shea GOAL’s CEO has called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern to explain to the Irish people why he has excluded GOAL from his recently announced rapid response recruitment drive, costing the tax payer €5 million.
Having spent the last week in Sri Lanka opening some of the 65 schools built by GOAL, with €20 million donated by the Irish public following the tsunami, O’Shea declared,
“The Irish implementing agencies have been treated shabbily by the Minister.
“And the Irish people have a right to know why.”
He continued;
“GOAL has done a remarkable job in Ampara (an area visited by Dermot Ahern two years ago) – so impressive in fact that a local dignitary stated to a large gathering that it would have taken 20 years for the Sri Lankan Government to achieve what GOAL has achieved in 16 months.
“We believe our effort in Sri Lanka is at least on a par with any work, anybody else, including the three UN agencies which will all benefit from the Ministers initiative, have achieved.
“The Minister has made it clear GOAL is not deserving of inclusion in his recruitment drive.
“We want to know why not?
“Minister Ahern also maintains that the initiative will not disrupt GOAL’s plans to respond to a disaster. GOAL vehemently disputes this assertion, since we all will be drawing from precisely the same pool of professionals.”
O’Shea believes the decision to exclude GOAL and other indigenous Irish implementing agencies from his recruitment drive, is an insult to the Irish people, who have shown, by the volume of their donations, that they trust “their own” to do the job. |
