Irish Red Cross

The Irish Red Cross Society was formally established by Nurse Elizabeth O'Herrin of Dublin City Hospital on 1 July 1939 under the terms of the Red Cross Act 1938. Its constitution is based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005 (the Geneva Conventions), to which Ireland is a party, Acts of the Oireachtas and relevant provisions of the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The society has been supported by the Irish Department of Defence and it receives €739,000 p.a. from them. In addition to that, the Department of Defence gives €130,000 annually to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In the past few years the organisation has gone through significant management and operational changes. In 2011 a new Secretary General was appointed together with a new senior management team.

Formerly the Irish White Cross had worked in the Irish Free State in 1921–28.

The society is organised on a voluntary basis. In Ireland, its activities include mountain rescue, first aid education of the public, the provision of first aid and ambulance services at public events, as well as other community services including therapeutic hand care for the elderly and training of carers. Outside Ireland, the society provides relief and humanitarian services in response to natural disasters and in regions of conflict.

The headquarters of the Irish Red Cross is located at 16 Merrion Square North, Dublin 2. The society is a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The firstaid services section of the society is organised into regions, areas, branches and units for command and administration purposes.

There are four regions in the country each with a Regional Director of Units who is responsible for co-ordination of the units in their region through their Area Directors of Units.

There are 28 areas in the Irish Red Cross (The Red Cross in Northern Ireland is part of the British Red Cross). Areas are normally divided up to match county borders i.e. the Clare Red Cross area has the same geographical bounders as county Clare itself. In this way the Red Cross differs from other organisations like the Civil Defence which is divided according to local council areas. The only exception to this being with Red Cross Areas in Dublin, they are aligned to local council areas due to the population of the city and outlying areas, this meaning there are four Red Cross Areas in Dublin.

...
Wikipedia