Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern meets with Mitchell Scholar Nate Wright to Discuss Darfur

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern TD, met with Nate Wright, George Mitchell Scholar and student of International Human Rights Law at NUI Galway, at Government Buildings in Dublin. Minister Ahern commended Nate for his work with STAND - A Student Anti Genocide Coalition, which highlights the situation in the Sudan and congratulated him on receiving the George Mitchell Scholarship. It is Nate's tremendous role in founding and directing STAND and bringing that movement to Ireland, that led the Minister to meet with Nate before his four day visit to the region in advance of the deployment of Irish troops as part of a UN-mandated European mission. During the meeting, Nate and Minister Ahern discussed the role of the EU mission in Chad and DarfurFast, a day of fasting and sacrifice set for Wednesday, December 5th, and designed to draw attention to the Sudan.

Since Nate arrived in Ireland just two months ago, he has already been successful at getting STAND, the student movement, off the ground on the island. He has reached out to Irish universities as well as high schools. DarfurFast, for example, has already attracted great support, including the support of two TDs, MIchael Higgins and Jan O'Sullivan, as well as the support of celebrities, government leaders, international athletes, and students globally. Minister Ahern also expressed interest in the project. This is the fourth year in a row that a day has been set aside for this purpose. Last year, STAND raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for humanitarian aid to help the Sudanese refugees.

Nate also has been briefing a number of Irish peacekeepers who are scheduled to depart for Chad in December about the cultural differences among the tribes in the region, the complicated government relationships, and important logistical information about the road system and geography.

Minister Ahern will hold talks with the Sudanese Government in Khartoum, where he will announce increased funding for the Darfur Peace Process. Ireland is to provide €500,000 to support the peace talks on the future of Darfur which are due to resume in Libya in early December. Minister Ahern is also scheduled to meet Chadian leaders in the capital, N’Djamena. He will then be briefed by UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs working on the ground. He will then travel to eastern Chad to see at first hand refugee camps which will be protected by the EU force.