Civil Defence volunteers should be “immensely” proud of the “enormous” contribution they made during the global pandemic, the Minister for Defence has said.
Simon Coveney described the volunteers as an “essential cog” in Ireland’s frontline emergency response to the spread of coronavirus.
He made the remarks at an event at Dublin’s Croke Park on Tuesday honouring the volunteers’ efforts in 2020 and 2021.
More than 300 volunteers were presented with specially designed medals at the ceremony.
In total 1,500 people will receive medals for their contribution in the coming months.
Mr Coveney offered his “sincere gratitude to each and every Civil Defence volunteer who assisted in one of the darkest periods that any of us can remember”.
He said volunteers had reached out to the most vulnerable in society and maintained their basic needs “reducing people’s sense of isolation, offering a bit of comfort”.
“As Minister for Defence I am immensely proud of the contribution made by the Civil Defence during 2020 and 2021 – years that we will never forget,” Mr Coveney said.
“When the government asked citizens to stay home in order to keep them safe, you came forward and helped make all of that possible in terms of the day to day routine work that was needed to keep society intact.”
He added: “There will always be a call to action for volunteers in Ireland and Civil Defence is an absolutely essential part in that system, to be available at the time to assist government, local and national, and other parts of the State to respond in a way to protect our citizens, particularly the most vulnerable.”
Civil Defence volunteers undertook 9,500 taskings during the pandemic in support of the Local Authorities, HSE and An Garda Síochána.
These included bringing people for medical appointments, bringing people to testing and vaccination centres, delivering food parcels and medication to vulnerable members of the public and assisting in HSE vaccination centres.
