Mayo Civil Defence volunteers attend Covid-19 medal ceremony at Croke Park

Mayo Civil Defence volunteers were part of a large gathering of Civil Defence volunteers from all over Ireland at a ceremony in Croke Park yesterday.

The event was attended by the Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, who paid special tribute to Civil Defence volunteers and officers for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister Coveney commissioned a special Covid-19 medal for all volunteers who undertook duties and taskings in the height of the crisis.

In total, this medal will be presented to approximately 1,500 volunteers, with the first 438 volunteers being presented with these medals at the special ceremony.

Civil Defence volunteers nationally undertook 9,500 taskings during the pandemic in support of the Local Authorities, HSE and An Garda Síochána.

Civil Defence volunteers assisted their communities in every county in Ireland with volunteers in Mayo contributing approximately 2,000 volunteer hours across 164 taskings.

Civil Defence volunteers provided key services which included transporting people for medical appointments and essential medical treatment, transporting people to testing and vaccination centres, providing administrative assistance to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, assisting in HSE vaccination centres, sorting and delivering Covid-19 test kits to testing centres, collecting and delivering foodstuffs from suppliers and bakers for food hubs and delivering food parcels, medications and library books to vulnerable households.

Mayo Civil Defence Officer, Francis Power, said: “It is an honour to lead the Civil Defence team in Mayo with the support of the management of Mayo County Council.

"It was a great occasion for the organisation to receive formal recognition for the services the volunteers and officers provided to our communities during the pandemic."