Ireland’s Call Initiative To Conclude Operations With Arrival of 21 Nurses

ICI facilitated return of 67 healthcare workers and housed 43 for isolation.

15th May 2020; The Ireland’s Call initiative today confirmed it will conclude its operations following the arrival of a further 21 nurses next week. The nurses, who have been stranded in the Philippines for weeks, will arrive on Wednesday. The voluntary initiative, which started at the end of March, provided logistical and financial support to 67 healthcare workers across the globe to get back to Ireland and help in the fight against Covid-19. A total of 154 flights were sourced to enable the workers complete their journeys. This came at a time when international travel was incredibly difficult as countries began to close borders and required extensive collaboration between ICI, airlines, travel agents, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Irish embassies worldwide. 

Upon the nurses’ arrival next week, the Initiative will have returned medics from:

• Canada (3 doctors, 1 nurse) 
• Pakistan (2 doctors)
• India (1 nurse)
• Philippines (23 nurses)
• Australia (5 doctors, 6 nurses, 1 Air Corps technician)
• New Zealand (12 doctors, 3 nurses, 2 radiographers, 1 pharmacist, 1 healthcare assistant, 1 physician associate) 
• Malaysia (2 doctors) 
• Nigeria (1 doctor)
• USA (1 doctor) 
• UK (1 doctor)

The workers have resumed frontline positions around the country in the battle against Covid-19.

To fund these flights, Ireland’s Call raised €85,184 on its Go Fund Me page and €7,320 from a private donation. €91,610.50 of the money raised has been spent on flights. The small surplus of €893.50 will be donated to an appropriate charity which aligns with ICI’s values. The Initiative submitted documentation to the Companies Registration Office this week to become an incorporated entity and will file full accounts in the coming weeks. ICI has been fully compliant at all times in relation to its operations and has been supported and assisted by L.K. Shields Solicitors from the outset. 

Ireland’s Call also supported 43 medics with accommodation to self-isolate effectively for 14 days. The initiative sourced housing near various hospitals across the country, which varied from hotel rooms, to commercial rental and privately-owned properties. Ireland’s Call also received numerous generous offers from members of the public offering up their vacant properties to healthcare workers across the country. Maynooth University also offered up 20 of its rooms for use.

Ireland’s Call launched with the goal to help the country’s medical front line in the fight against Covid-19 and these numbers show that they achieved this. Figures show that around a quarter of all Irish cases are healthcare workers, meaning the work that Ireland’s Call has done was vital in providing reinforcements to step up and help wherever they are needed. 

With the need for healthcare workers recognized and addressed, the next issue identified was a lack of PPE and the possibility that the wearing of face masks becomes a part of everyday life in Irish society. Having encountered a number of difficulties in getting State funding, the Initiative’s co-founder, Neil Sands, decided to establish a private social enterprise to meet this need with the urgency it required. 

Measc is a private social enterprise which is working to import mask manufacturing machinery to Ireland and produce medical-grade facemasks domestically for the Irish public and frontline. Measc is currently funded exclusively by Neil as a sole trader and he is in late-stage negotiations with a company in Germany for a machine. Measc is positioned to offer at-costs face masks to the Irish public and frontline during the restart process. 

Measc will operate on a subscription-based model and aims to offer masks for “cents, not euros.” An introductory monthly subscription of €9.99 will see a delivery of 20 masks twice a month until Ireland restarts safely. 

Neil Sands said; “I am incredibly proud and so grateful to everyone who has been involved with the Ireland’s Call Initiative. It has been an honour to help Ireland’s frontline heroes. To our partners in Salesforce, Hannon Travel, Maynooth University, Hiphipstay and everyone who donated their time or their money to our efforts I would like to say a massive thank you. I would also like to thank Kevin Sands, Conor Hughes, James Lawlor, Marcus Lynam, Luke Gavigan, Conor Sheridan, Oisín Sands, Aoife Clare and Aislinn Kelly for their hard work, selflessness and dedication. We could not have accomplished what we have without them.” 

“I am now looking forward to moving forward with my new project, Measc, which I hope to have fully established in the near future. It is important that the country reopens, but it is more important that it reopens safely. I want to help in this by providing affordable masks to the public.”

Thank you all for standing shoulder to shoulder with us and our front line.

Onward.