Agreement event will raise money for charity

The tenth anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement will be used to host a charity dinner which will be attended by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair. The April 11th dinner, which will be held in Dublin Castle, will also be attended by Senator George Mitchell.

The dinner is being organised by the chairman of Turn The Tide of Suicide (3Ts) charity, Noel Smyth. Mr Smyth is a prominent solicitor and businesman. Funds raised on the occasion will support a number of cross-border suicide prevention initiatives.

The Taoiseach said he was pleased to be able to recognise the work of the volunteers behind the organisation and said it was appropriate that the dinner in honour of Mr Blair be used to assist its work.

“I have spent many years working with Tony Blair and George Mitchell to bring an end to the political difficulties that defined Northern Ireland and its people for far too long. The value of human life and its fragility was always foremost in our minds during that time,” he said.

“This initiative to fund north-south research on depression and suicide is another step in helping us to understand the pain that many individuals and families on this island are forced to bear and in helping us to address the issue,” said Mr Ahern.