Sir, - The letter from John Weakliam on the subject of Irish Aid to Eritrea contained two statements about Concern, which I would like to correct. The writer refers to Irish NGO's including Concern, as "dancing to Ethiopia's tune" and the fact that we have given no assistance at all to the people of Eritrea.
Both are wrong. On May 29th, 2000, Concern issued a press statement highlighting the plight and needs of the people of Eritrea, who have been severely effected by the war and drought in the region. Unlike Ethiopia where we have been working since 1973 we have no operation at present in Eritrea. Because of this we allocated IR£40,000 to support the immediate relief efforts of our partner organisation German Agro Action who do. Concern is also planning future interventions to help.
As a humanitarian organisation we deplore the loss of life brought about by this senseless war and we continue to build our capacity to deal with the increasing numbers of people affected by drought in the region. For Concern, people come first and our organisation dances to no governments (or individual's) tune. - Yours, etc.,
Paddy Maguinness, Deputy Chief Executive, Concern, Camden Street, Dublin 2.
Irish Aid To Ethiopia
Sir, - In his letter of July 18th, Mr Weakliam claimed that the Irish NGOs, had "danced to the Ethiopian tune" and were not funding projects in Eritrea. I would like to strongly refute this claim.
Trocaire has allocated £42,530 to Eritrea during the current emergency. This money has been used to provide tents, blankets, biscuits and wheat, and to cover the costs of transporting these relief items to 35,000 internally displaced people who were forced to flee their homes because of the conflict with Ethiopia. Our contribution of £42,530 is part of a programme of support, valued at over IR£2 million, which is being provided by Trocaire and a consortium of European and North American NGOs. Trocaire is currently considering a number of other proposals covering humanitarian assistance and long-term development in Eritrea.
I would like to reaffirm Trocaire's commitment to working with the poor, marginalised and war affected people both in Eritrea and Ethiopia. - Yours, etc.,
Eamonn Meehan, Head of Overseas Department, Trocaire, Booterstown Avenue, Co Dublin.