Two members of the American board of Goal have resigned in protest at comments made last week about Hurricane Katrina by the aid agency's Irish director, John O'Shea.
Niall O'Dowd of the Irish Voice newspaper and Declan Kelly, a New York-based public relations consultant, have written to Mr O'Shea confirming their decision to step down after the outspoken aid worker criticised the Government's decision to pledge €1 million to the hurricane relief effort.
Mr O'Shea said on Tuesday it was "ludicrous" for the Government to give money to a country "awash with billionaires". He also accused the Government of double standards by agreeing to send Defence Force troops to New Orleans when it had turned down similar requests for disaster zones in Africa.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr O'Shea said: "I feel that the response is inappropriate. We could have sent a letter. We could have made a phone call. We could have turned up at - sent our ministers to turn up perhaps at - some of the funerals of the dead . . . This is as ludicrous as having a collection for Bill Gates. This country is awash with billionaires. They do not need our money."
Mr O'Shea apologised for some of the language he had used in the interview in a letter to The Irish Times last week, adding that "the Irish people, and the Irish Government, must identify and empathise with the plight of the suffering people of New Orleans and surrounding areas".
Mr O'Shea was unavailable for comment yesterday. But speaking to The Irish Times last week, following his radio appearance, he said he stood over his criticism of the Government's decision to pledge monetary aid to the relief effort.
"The government in the US has allocated $16.5 billion. If they are short after that, then of course Ireland and everyone else should chip in. But when they are on millionaires' row, I don't think it's a proper response," he said.
