Govt Announce €500,000 In Iraq Aid

The government has announced €500,000 in emergency aid funding for minority groups and women and children in Iraq.

Half of the money will be go to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) with the other half going to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

It will be used to "support their emergency response activities in Northern Iraq, where thousands have fled the advances of ISIS."

Announcing the funding Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, TD, said: "The plight of the most vulnerable – particularly, children, women and elderly people – is increasingly desperate and Ireland is doing all it can to provide urgent life-saving assistance. Children are the most at risk and worst affected by violence and displacement.

"Ireland condemns in the strongest possible way deliberate attacks on Iraqi civilians and calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure safe passage of displaced populations and delivery of humanitarian assistance."

(MH/IT)