Published: Friday, 22nd January, 2010 11:00am

Priests use internet blog to drum up support for Offaly man in Haiti

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Two priests in Galway city have issued an appeal for people to support and pray for an Offaly man who is working in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Kieran Rigney from Banagher, is a manager of Our Little Brothers and Sisters' hospital and orphanage in the Dominican Republic. He travelled to Haiti last week to find a "terrible situation".

Kieran is from a well-known local family in Banagher and his brother Hubert was the All-Ireland winning captain of the Offaly hurling team in 1998.

Kieran studied in Maynooth from 1994 to 1998 where he became friends with Frs Ian O'Neill and Diarmuid Hogan. They have now have used their blog, http://sacredheartgalway.blogspot.com/ to make an appeal on behalf of Kieran. They said that the conditions that Kieran is working in in Petionville are dire.

The six floor administration building collapsed, leaving many people dead, including two overseas volunteers and an unknown number of children. The paediatric hospital near the airport has been severely damaged. There is no water or electricity. The hospital was full before the earthquake, treating 200 children, but the staff are now caring for over 1,000 critically injured people, mostly in the open air on makeshift beds.

The orphanage in Kenscoff was not damaged but the 600 children now sleep in the open air in case there is another quake. Food has become very expensive. The children only have rice and macaroni to eat at the moment. There is no diesel to fuel the generator, so there is no electricity and no water. People cannot wash, use the toilets or drink water.

The priests said that Kieran needs donations to buy food and diesel, to help the children and staff, to treat the injured and to begin the rebuild.

"Both of us have worked in Haiti with Kieran. The money will be spent properly and appropriately. All money will go to Haiti immediately," they add.

You can lodge money to The Haiti Fund, A/C 42084476 Sort Code: 90-40-18 (Bank of Ireland NUI, Galway) or send money c/o The Haiti Fund, the Chaplaincy, NUI, Galway.

Meanwhile, Birr man Darren Hanniffy, who is heading up the GOAL relief mission in Haiti, described the situation in Haiti as a "living nightmare".

"The capital Port-au-Prince has been levelled and every day is now a life and death struggle for those living in what was already one of the poorest countries in the world. Thousands of people remain missing and few buildings remain standing," he said after landing in the country last week.

There is no electricity, no phone lines and food is in short supply. Many roads are impassable, while the port has been destroyed. Refugees are constantly on the road trying to flee the country. "Everything from generators, food, water purifying kits, shelter, and medical equipment will have to be brought in," he added.

GOAL can be reached at GOAL, PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, by phoning 01 2809779 or by visiting www.goal.ie.