Madam, - Most of the aid for the victims of the tsunami is focused on the Asian countries where the devastation is dreadful.
However, the east coast of Africa was affected too, particularly Somalia, which is poverty-stricken and war-torn.
I have written to Dermot Ahern, Minister for Foreign Affairs and to Conor Lenihan,Minister of State for Development Aid, to ask them if it would be possible for the Government and NGOs, which have collected such vast sums due to the generosity of the Irish public, to divert some of the aid to Somalia.
We have had excellent programmes in Ethiopia for several years and surely we could get advice in Addis Ababa on how best to go about this matter. - Yours, etc.,
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Senator MARY HENRY, MD, Seanad Éireann, Dublin 2.