A Church of Ireland vicar began a five-day sit-out in Dublin today to raise money for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.
Reverend Tom Haskins (64) is modelling his appeal on the sit-out undertaken by the Dean of St Anne's cathedral in Belfast, who is known as Black Santa.
He said the response from the public so far had been very encouraging.
"I think as people have become more able to give, they are giving more and more as the years go by. They are very generous. I'm very pleasantly surprised at the amount of silent, folding money that goes in."
Half of the money collected will go towards the survivors of the October 8th earthquake, which killed more than 70,000 people and destroyed almost 80 per cent of homes and public buildings in Pakistan's Kashmir region.
The remainder of the money collected will be shared out among a variety of home-based charities, including the St Vincent De Paul, Trust, the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association and Acet, an Aids education organisation.
Last year, the sit out raised €39,000 for various charities. Rev Haskins said he could understand why people had not donated as much money as they had in the wake of the Asian tsunami.
"It's a natural thing when things keeps happening and they go out of the headlines and people start forgetting. But I think it's important because there is so much distress and misery out there and we must relieve it as much as we can."
The United Nations is seeking
€14.6 million
from donors to help build houses for more than three million earthquake survivors.
His curate at St Anne's, Reverend Joyce Rankin, will be joining him in the sit-out and also helping to say daily masses.
PA