Government donates €1m to hurricane relief

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has announced the Government will donate €1 million in aid towards Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The money will be distributed through the Red Cross and community-based organisations.

The Government would also contribute to the European Union's response to a call for help from Washington.

Mr Ahern said the hurricane had a "catastrophic effect" on tens of thousands of people. "Ireland has a unique relationship with the people of the United States and it is now appropriate that we show solidarity with them in their time of need," he said.

Mr Ahern said the Department of Foreign Affairs remains concerned about a small number of Irish people thought to have been in the Gulf Coast area when Hurricane Katrina struck last week.

Forty Irish families contacted the Department seeking information about relatives in the area in the wake of the disaster. Most of those missing have been accounted for, and there have been no confirmed Irish deaths.

However, it is understood one or two people are still missing.