An Open Letter to Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians

An Open Letter to Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians

and

Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians

I have sent out several articles recently and also a bulletin issued by the Embassy of the United States of America in Dublin. The bulletin was sent to every U. S. citizen known to be residing in Ireland. It warns U.S. citizens of the drastic nature of the floods currently being experienced in Ireland. The level of devastation caused by the floods actually parallels that which was wreaked upon the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas of the United States following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The floods come on the heels of the worst economic collapse in Ireland in years. Thousands of Irish people who are in imminent danger of losing their homes and all of their worldly possessions to the seemingly relentless flooding were already facing the possibility of those losses as a result of the collapsed economy. To put it very bluntly, the situation is dismal and worsening as the days go by and their homes remain submerged in the flood waters. The full extent of their losses can only be estimated at this time by most victims, but as in the Gulf Coast area, the receding water only confirms that their worst fears have been realized.

Catastrophic events such as these sometimes require that drastic measures be taken in trying to resolve them. In 2005, the men and women of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians responded immediately and generously to assist the victims in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As a charitable organization dedicated to our Irish heritage and our Catholic faith, I have absolutely no doubt that they will respond to this tragedy with their legendary generosity once again.

I have been in contact with the Board of Erin and the A.O.H. in Canada and they have both promised to render as much help as possible to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the Irish floods. I recall that following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Board of Erin presented our HDRE (Katrina Fund) with a check for several thousand dollars. Even though I am sure that there will be donations from Divisions, County, and State Boards, I feel very strongly that a substantial donation should also be made from our National Boards to “kick off” a relief effort and also as an incentive to other jurisdictions and individual members to do everything possible to help our Irish brothers and sisters to recover from this enormous tragedy.

Let us not forget our motto of Friendship, Unity, and True Christian Charity and that this is the Holy Season of Christmas, our traditional season for helping those in need.



Yours in our Motto,

Jack Meehan, Past National President

Ancient Order of Hibernians in America



Note:

More information including contacts on flood relief in Ireland will be posted on my blog as soon as it becomes available http://hibernianamericannews.blogspot.com/