Ulster firefighters donate £50,000
Northern Ireland’s firefighters tonight donated their £50,000 (€70,960) hardship fund to the victims of the Asian disaster.
Members of the Fire Brigades Union emptied the hardship fund account, built up during strike action over pay two years ago, and gave the money to the “Black Santa” appeal being run by the Anglican Dean of Belfast, the Very Rev Houston McKelvey.
Members of the union went along to the Dean, collecting money on the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, and handed over the biggest cheque he had received during a week of collecting which by the end of today saw his total topping £900,000 (€1.3m).
Yesterday a cheque for the first £500,000 (€71,000) was presented by the Dean to Christian Aid.
Jim Barbour of the FBU said: “During the dispute with the Government the support from the people of Northern Ireland was tremendous and and included quite a lot of cash.
“There was still approximately £52,000 (€73,798) in the hardship fund and we took the decision in the light of the shocking events of last week to give most of the money to the Dean’s fund.”
He said £50,000 went to the fund for Asia and the balance of just over £2,000 (€2,838) to a local children’s charity.
Dean McKelvey gave his heartfelt thanks to the fire fighters for their “marvellous gesture”.
He also revealed that Pastor James McConnell from the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in north Belfast had delivered a matching cheque of £50,000 from his parishioners and that a car dealership had pitched in with £25,000.
The Dean has been stunned by the support of the people of Northern Ireland and revealed that since he started his sit-out on the cathedral steps last Wednesday he had collected more than £900,000.
On top of that, another 400 bags of coins of denominations of less that £1 had just been delivered to the bank – following several hundred bags earlier in the week.
“It seems as though everybody in Northern Ireland has a bag of coins to put in my collecting barrel – thank God for that.”
Tomorrow St Anne’s is holding a two-hour lunchtime prayer vigil for the victims of the disaster.
The Dean said the service would allow people to pop into the cathedral during their lunch breaks.
“Many people have short breaks and they should feel free to bring their coffee and sandwiches and to have their lunch in the cathedral during the service,“ he said.
Collecting will continue during the service: “You can pay and pray,” the Dean said.
