Ireland Sends Aid To War Torn Georgia

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Peter Power T.D., represented Ireland at the emergency Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels which discussed the crisis in Georgia.

Minister Power informed his EU colleagues that Ireland was immediately contributing €100,000 in response to the appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross and that members of Ireland's Rapid Response Corps are currently on standby for deployment to help assist in the humanitarian response to the crisis.

This is in addition to the €500,000 in development aid which Ireland has already committed to Georgia.

Minister Power welcomed the ceasefire which is now in place but said, "Even after this current crisis is resolved Georgia will be left to face the consequences for much time to come.

"The EU must help it to rebuild on the basis of its full sovereignty and territorial integrity and I am certain that a Europe speaking and acting strongly and clearly will have a positive influence."

Welcoming recent developments, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said the French Presidency under the leadership of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner deserved great praise for its work to help resolve the immediate crisis and to bring to an end the intolerable human suffering we have witnessed. 

He also paid tribute to the Finnish Foreign Minister, Alexander Stubb, as Chair-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

"This is yet another example of the member states of the European Union working together in a positive way to address major political and humanitarian issues on Europe's doorstep.

"I hope today's meeting in Brussels will help cement the resolution of the conflict in the short term. 

"The longer-term consequences, and how to address the underlying causes of the conflict, will certainly be high on the Union's agenda over the coming period", he concluded.