After the initial fund raising in Navan, Amanda Monerawela Hughes
contacted the schools in Northern Ireland when they
returned after the Christmas holidays and asked them to help raise funds to
buy fishing boats. This project was called "The Buy A Boat Project".
Ulster Television interviewed her about this project and as soon as she came off the air, the Holywood Fire Station, who
had washed cars to collect money for the Tsunami victims, phoned her and
promised to sponsor a
boat which was named the Holywood Fire Station boat.
In early January, Chandre contacted Mr. Liam
Marks and Mr. Paschal Taggart Chairman of Bord na gCon with a view to
organising a fund raising night at the Shelbourne Park Greyhound Track. The
response was immediate from Bord na gCon and their Chairman Mr. Paschal
Taggart.
The Managing Director of Shelbourne Park Mr. Paddy Ryan organised a
meeting at Shelbourne Park and a committee was formed to arrange a fund
raising night for the Irish-Sri Lanka Trust Fund which would be held on
Thursday 27th January.
On the 9th January, Chandre Monerawela left for Sri Lanka to assess the situation on the ground.
He immediately contacted a friend in Sri Lanka and requested them to pick
the best boat manufacturers of one-day fishing boats. When Chandre arrived
in Sri Lanka he was able to get the first boat, the Holywood Fire Station boat, ready for launching. This
took place on the 12th January and he immediately placed an order for
another boat to be named Shelbourne Park.
The launch of the Holywood Fire Station boat was held at a temple where many displaced fishing
families were being sheltered. The Irish Foreign Minister Mr. Dermot Ahern was in Sri Lanka at that time and was
informed by RTE's correspondent, Mr. Joe Little, about the launch and consequently Mr. Ahern and his party were present
for the launch.
The Holywood Fire Station boat was the first fishing boat to go
out to sea on the 12th January 2005. Mr. Monerawela was then interviewed by
Joe Little in the presence of Mr. Ahern which was shown on RTE's 6 o'clock
and 9 o'clock news.
This interview had a huge impact back in Ireland. The managing director of
Shelbourne Park and his staff along with Mr. Marks, Ms. Dolores Ruth and all
the greyhound racing fraternity organised a hugely successful greyhound
meeting on 27th January. All the greyhound tracks in Ireland joined in and a massive contribution was
made to the fund.
After the launch of the first boat Mr. Monerawela was invited by the Sri
Lankan Minister of Posts and Telegraphs to a launch of a housing project for
the displaced. Mr. Monerawela promised that the people of Ireland would
sponsor 50 boats and would build 10 houses, which would be called the
Shelbourne Park Village. When he made this statement the only funds that had
been collected were those
collected on the 31st December.
From the 7th January the offices of the
Red Book Directory were inundated by telephone
calls from people all over Ireland wishing to
sponsor a boat. From that time through to late 2005, the office staff of the Red Book were totally
dedicated to answering telephone calls and providing information to the
donors of boats. In addition, the Monerawela family, their staff and friends
travelled the length and breadth of Ireland, to attend functions and
presentations organised by sponsors of boats.
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