The Government is to launch a major initiative to involve citizens in emergency crisis relief and long-term assistance projects in the Third World through the establishment of two volunteer groups for humanitarian aid and development.
Speaking at a conference in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary of Irish accession to the United Nations, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern announced plans to set up two organisations to assist the developing world.
The first is a rapid-response corps of 50 to 100 professional and other skilled personnel who would be ready to travel at short notice to carry out emergency humanitarian work.
The second is a volunteer corps, much larger, consisting of individuals who would serve as development workers on a long-term basis.
"The events of the past 12 months - the tsunami, Niger, Pakistan - have proved beyond all doubt that the developed world lacks the mechanisms to respond rapidly to humanitarian crises in the field," said Mr Ahern.
"At EU level, Ireland has pushed for greater emphasis on building up the union's humanitarian response capability. At a national level, we are determined to push ahead now with the establishment of an Irish rapid-response corps."
Funding for the two units will come from the Government's Official Development Assistance budget.
Mr Ahern said people with relevant specialist skills and experience in niche areas would be invited to sign up to the national rapid-response register.
The rapid-response corps will be separate from the proposed volunteer corps, the mandate of which, Mr Ahern said, will be "to harness the strong volunteer spirit which exists across the country".
He said he envisaged that the mainly civilian rapid-response corps would be organised and co-ordinated by the Defence Forces, who had the capability of organising such a unit.
Mark Malloch Brown, chef de cabinet to the UN secretary general, said that he hoped the Irish plan would inspire other EU states.
"There's been a lot of talk in Brussels of just such a humanitarian response, but it's not moved anywhere, and therefore for Ireland to propose it will be important in its own right but also important if it spurs the rest of Europe to follow along," he said.
Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Lieut Gen Jim Sreenan said: "There is nothing hard and fast about it so far, but from my point of view it is a very interesting concept and something that we will be delighted to participate fully in."
Goal chief executive John O'Shea welcomed the move, saying the organisation had long been calling for a "fire brigade-style force" which would respond immediately to manmade and natural disasters.