A bank account which has been established to raise funds for a Lebanese orphanage that has long association with the Irish Defence Forces has received some €75,000 in donations since it was opened yesterday.
A committee is to be set up to oversee the distribution of the funds to the orphanage, which is based in Tibnin, as well as to other deserving causes in the area.Already, one such cause, an orphanage in Tyre, has been identified as being in need of support.
The appeal is being co-ordinated by RTÉ, the Defence Forces and Ireland's honorary consul in Beirut, Khaled Daouk.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio last week, the director of the Tibnin orphanage, Hassan Fawaz, described how some of the children in his care, along with orphanage staff and members of his family, had been forced to live for 11 days in a small bunker formerly used by Irish troops.
However, after Israeli shells began to land close to the bunker, the group of 28 decided to leave. They eventually arrived in Beirut last week.
The group is currently living in a hotel in the city, although the five female orphans who were with them have been placed with family members elsewhere in the city.
The remainder of the 78 orphans who live in the Tibnin orphanage - which has received direct funding from the Irish Government in the past - have been sent to stay with other relatives in Lebanon.
But they face an uncertain future, as the orphanage itself is at risk of being damaged by shelling of the area.
Mr Fawaz told The Irish Times yesterday that, as far as he was aware, the orphanage had so far escaped damage.
"Nobody knows when we are going back (to Tibnin) . . . we arrived here with just the clothes on our back," he said.
Members of the public who wish to contribute to the orphanage can do so over the next two weeks by contacting any Bank of Ireland branch and asking for the Lebanese Orphan Appeal.
Alternately, they can lodge money directly to Bank of Ireland, Baggot Street, Dublin - sort code 901490, account number 44999522.