merrion street

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (l-r) with Des Kenny of NCBI, Senator Martin Conway and Kate Lawlor of NCBI

Taoiseach Enda Kenny today launched the "Tree of Light" Christmas appeal for NCBI the National Sight Loss Agency. The appeal is part of the "Make a Dark Day Brighter" campaign that reminds us that the 21st of December is the shortest day and, therefore, the darkest period of the year. The NCBI campaign is built around the illumination of Christmas trees at Dublin Airport, Grafton Street in Dublin, Eyre Square in Galway and Emmets Place in Cork.

Switching on the tree at Grafton street, the Taoiseach said:

I am pleased to be here to launch the NCBI Christmas Appeal and to salute the NCBI for the marvelous work it does. The Irish people have a tradition of generosity to good causes in the spirit of giving during the Christmas season, even though many are living with household budgets that are extremely tight. An estimated 224,000 people in Ireland are suffering from varying degrees of sight loss up to total blindness and this presents a challenge to NCBI to maintain and extend its services. I hope the "Make a Dark Day Brighter" campaign will be a great success and I'm sure it strikes a chord with all of us who hope that, as a country, we are moving from dark days to brighter ones ahead.