A WEST Cork couple, currently travelling in Sri Lanka, are searching to find two boats that the people of Crookhaven provided following a terrible tsunami 20 years ago.
Well-known publican Dermot O’Sullivan and his wife Linda Kennedy have posted an online appeal for information about the location of the two boats that Dermot’s family, and the community of Crookhaven, provided through ‘Buy-A-Boat’ fundraising initiatives two decades ago.
A video of Linda combing the beaches and seeing some of the other 1,025 boats that were provided as part of a nationwide fundraising appeal was posted on the couple’s social media pages.
Linda was clearly delighted to see so many of these boats still in use 20 years later, but the hunt for the Crookhaven boats continues.
‘We are looking for the Crookhaven Eagle and the Spirit of Crookhaven,’ said Linda. ‘We got pay dirt today,’ she reported. ‘We got 10 Irish boats, which is a complete win. We are up to a count of 38.’
The couple issued an appeal asking anyone who knows where either of the two Crookhaven boats are located to send them a message.
The idea to provide those devastated by the effects of the tsunami on December 24th 2004 with practical support came from one young woman, Amanda, and her father Chandre Monerawela, who is a native of Sri Lanka but was living in Ireland at the time.
They drew on the support of friends in Navan town centre, where more than €57,500 was raised to provide practical support for those devastated by the tsunami.
The story went national and everywhere people got involved in the ‘Buy-A-Boat’ campaign as part of an Irish Sri Lanka Trust Fund. The appeal of one small island helping another immediately captured people’s imagination.
Here, in West Cork, Billy and Angela O’Sullivan of O’Sullivan’s pub in Crookhaven were part of that fundraising campaign and they even travelled to Sri Lanka to see both boats put to good use.
Now, it’s the turn of Dermot O’Sullivan and Linda Kennedy to walk the beaches in the hope of spotting one, or both, of the locally donated boats still in use, fishing the shoreline.
Meanwhile, marking Ireland’s unwavering support for the tsunami recovery fund, Chandre Monerawela said: ‘I would like to draw the attention of the people of Sri Lanka to the fact that an Irish-Sri Lanka Trust Fund was started in Ireland to help the victims of the tsunami in 2004.
‘Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan government never took time to appreciate or thank the people of Ireland. The contribution came from the Irish government, Irish Rail, Irish banks, businessmen, schools and the general public. I do not think the people of Sri Lanka are aware of this.’
The result was 1,025 one-day fishing boats manufactured by Dhanusha Marine and Blue Star Marine with engines supplied by Associated Motorways and 10 fishing nets.
The Irish-Sri Lanka Trust Fund also built 32 houses in Beruwala/Payagala, which was named Shelbourne Park; 28 houses in Ambalangoda, which was named The Irish Village; and 10 houses in Ahangama which is called Moneragama.
All these houses were fully furnished and with utensils and gas cookers. A two-storey building for a computer school and carpentry workshop including machinery at Unawatuna was also built.
In addition, a technical college at Pamunugama and The Irish-Sri Lanka Trust Fund was completed, as was a water project for 90 families in Anuradhapura.
Chandre Monerawela added: ‘My heartfelt thanks to the people of Ireland for providing the funds to the Irish-Sri Lanka Trust Fund and all these projects were completed.’
