Operation Mayday awareness campaign raises over

3,0

Ben Mannix won first prize in the senior category at the Operation Mayday Poster Competition, run by Plan International to raise awareness of the refugee crisis. The presentation took place in Mallow GAA Complex. Pic S Murphy.
Ben Mannix won first prize in the senior category at the Operation Mayday Poster Competition, run by Plan International to raise awareness of the refugee crisis. The presentation took place in Mallow GAA Complex. Pic S Murphy.

00 for Plan International Ireland

Organisers of Operation Mayday, an awareness campaign to highlight the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, which took place over the weekend in Mallow and Fermoy, were thrilled with the success of the event. Over €3,000 was raised for Plan International (Ireland) to help children in refugee camps in Italy, Jordan, the Lebanon and Egypt. Events began on Friday evening with an awareness exhibition and awards ceremony in Mallow GAA Complex. Judges included Jim McSweeney, representing the local camera club in Mallow, and artist Deirdre Dunne. They noted that the standard of excellence was extremely high and that the theme of dignity, awareness and respect had been well represented throughout the artworks, stories and poems.

MC for the evening Annette Harte said that in her own school, the Patrician Academy in Mallow, the event had broken down barriers within her school. She said that communication between students and Abdul Al Raai, a student who now lives in north Cork having fled from his home in Syria with his family had greatly improved since the launch of the awareness exhibition. She also said that students were now more aware of what was happening in Syria and were more open to asking Abdul questions about his experiences.

Sabrina Kevany, Head of Fund Development for Plan Ireland International told stories about the work they were doing in refugee camps. She also spoke about the need to understand the plight of refugees and how Albert Einstein was himself a refugee. She said that no one puts their children on a boat unless the water is safer than the land.

The awareness exhibition continued all day Saturday in Fermoy Rowing Club. On Saturday 21st May over sixty people attended a 7km kayak trip organised by the Phoenix Kayak along the Blackwater River from Ballyhooly and continuing into Fermoy.  That evening from 5pm a barbecue took place along Fermoy Quay with music by the Speak Easy Band. Later Lieutenant Michael Brunicardi from the Irish Naval Service gave a graphic and heartfelt first-hand account of his own experience of what is happening on the Mediterranean. It is almost one year since it was announced that the Naval Service would deploy a ship to the Mediterranean to form part of the EU humanitarian response. The weekend of activities culminated on Sunday morning on Fermoy Quay from 10.30am where many people came along to try out kayaking and rowing.

Spokesperson Dónal Clancy said “Our objective with this weekend of activities was to raise awareness as to what is happening in the Mediterranean and we can see what a roaring success this was. From the school’s exhibition, river activities and talks to the general conversations on this central topic, we created a move-ment here. I want to pay tribute to everyone who helped us create this series of events and I hope that this discussion will continue long after this weekend.”