US embassy cable - 05DUBLIN19

UNCLAS DUBLIN 000019 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR TASK FORCE TFX001 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AEMR, EAID, PGOV 
SUBJECT: IRELAND TO ATTEND UNOCHA TSUNAMI DONOR CONFERENCE 
 
REF: A. 04 DUBLIN 1848 
     B. DUBLIN 4 
     C. O'SULLIVAN-O'MALLEY E-MAIL OF 1/5/05 
 
1.  On January 10, Post delivered reftel talking points to 
Thomas Brady, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Principal 
Officer for Consular Operations, who had provided information 
for refs A and B.  Brady noted that Mary Whelan, Irish 
Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and Kiera O'Brien, First 
Secretary of Development Corporation Ireland (DCI, Ireland's 
 
SIPDIS 
official aid agency, a division of the DFA), would 
participate in the January 11 UNOCHA Tsunami Donor Conference 
in Geneva.  Brady said that the Irish Government's assistance 
pledge for tsunami-affected areas stood at euro 10 million, 
although Irish NGOs, which have raised over euro 20 million 
privately, were pressuring the GOI to pledge more.  Brady 
pointed out that Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern and DCI 
Director General Roland Murphy had toured Phuket on January 9 
with a GOI needs assessment team and the heads of the four 
major Irish aid NGOs: Concern, GOAL, Trocaire, and the Irish 
Red Cross.  The group was scheduled to tour Aceh on January 
10 and Sri Lanka the following day. 
 
2.  In terms of a consular update, Brady noted that one Irish 
citizen had been confirmed dead and that three others were 
presumed dead.  Over the weekend of January 7, the number of 
"urgent cases" involving persons unaccounted for had narrowed 
from 15 (ref B) to 2.  There remained roughly 40 cases in 
which DFA had received calls about persons who were believed 
to have been in the countries affected.  In only 2 of the 
cases, however, had family members made the calls.  Brady 
mentioned that FM Ahern had announced the opening of a 
consular office in Phuket to assist Irish citizens in the 
area.  On January 9, Ahern had also visited a victim 
identification center in Phuket, where Irish forensics 
experts were working with Thai authorities on DNA comparisons. 
KENNY