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    Tuesday, 19 June 2012

    http://www.theredcard.ie/camp.php

    Show Racism the Red Card Ireland hosted the first international conference of likeminded projects from across Europe to meet in Dublin from 16th – 20th April.


    Our intercultural camps are heaps of fun and packed with adventure and learning. Following success of our previous Intercultural Summer Camps, we are now planning towards our 2012 Intercultural Summer Camps.

    Thursday, 14 June 2012

    Tsunami drill for Mayo

    Following the magnitude 4.0 earthquake of the Mayo coast and given the
    number of the low-lying settlements along the Mayo coast a Westport
    Councillor has called on Mayo County Council to run an emergency drill
    to prepare in case Mayo is ever subject to a Tsunami strike.
    Cllr Keith Martin has written to Mayo County Council to request that
    an emergency drill be carried out to prepare the county's emergency
    services for such an event.
    According to Cllr Martin there is a precedent for such a disaster as
    the Westport Historical Society's Journal Cathair Na Mart records a
    large wave hitting Westport Quay in November 1909. The wave caused
    damage as it hit the Quay breaking the Quay wall and leaving large
    pieces of it strewn over the road to Rossbeg. The wave sent a wall of
    water four feet high up as far as the old railway station, which is
    now the Quay school.
    Cllr Martin says the events are described in the article "Tidal wave
    at Westport Quay" which details the memories of Michael J Lyons who
    was fifteen at the time. According to the report "Tons of timber were
    strewn about. Boats lay in the road."
    Cllr Martin says "Experts now believe the wave was the result of the
    tectonic plates shifting far out in the Atlantic and this sent a
    mini-tsunami wave racing ashore at Westport. Fortunately the damage
    was minor but it should serve as a warning to prepare. The odds of a
    Tsunami hitting Westport or Mayo again must be millions to one but we
    should be prepared just as we would for an airplane or train crash or
    other such unlikely disasters. Mayo County Council runs drills like
    the one this summer at Knock Airport whereby a plane crash is
    simulated. This tests the preparedness of the emergency services to
    cope with unlikely large-scale disasters."
    Cllr Martin adds "We only have to look as the disasters in the Pacific
    or the recent flooding in New Orleans to know how deadly water can be
    and we should not be complacent about such events. Towns like Westport
    and Newport are only feet above the sea level at their Quays and we
    should be prepared."

    Tsunami Drill

    Dear Mr County Secretary

    I am writing to you to repeat my request of 2006 that Mayo County
    Council prepare an emergency response drill and reaction plan in the
    event of a Tsunami or Tidal wave impacting on any or all of Mayo's
    seaside towns and villages.

    Thank you

    Keith Martin
    Councillor
    Westport