Ex-Offaly hurler assisting in Haiti relief effort

January 14, 2010

Former Offaly and Birr star Darren Hanniffy.
Former Birr and Offaly hurler Darren Hanniffy is leading GOAL's relief operation in Haiti, which has been devastated by a massive earthquake. Search and rescue teams are arriving in the capital Port-au-Prince from all over the world as concern grows for those trapped under the rubble of buildings that collapsed when the magnitude seven tremor hit. It's feared that as many as 500,000 people have been killed in the disaster. Hanniffy arrived in the Caribbean country yesterday and was shocked by the scenes he witnessed. He said: "We were met with chaotic scenes, large amount of aircraft bringing in supplies - a rather disorganised arrangement. We came from the airport, travelled into the city and the destruction is catastrophic, almost every house has been either totally destroyed or collapsed. "There are bodies lining the streets all the way into the town." A civil engineer by profession, Hanniffy achieved county, Leinster and All-Ireland club success with Birr in the past decade and also represented Offaly. He is a brother of current Birr and Offaly star Rory Hanniffy and Gary Hanniffy, who was centre forward on the last Offaly team to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup in 1998.

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