Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club
"Rogue Melody"
The New Single from the album "The Beautiful Untrue", the follow-up to "Back to Before" and "Dig, A Dog & Bone Story"

"True Friends"
One of the all-time great Irish singles re-issued for the Holiday Season from the multi-platinum album "Be Yourself"
Available on The Mudbug Club Records and iTunes
www.jerry-fish.com ~ www.myspace.com/themudbugclub

Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club

JERRY FISH & THE MUDBUG CLUB Records the Ben E. King Classic "STAND BY ME"
Trócaire launches 2005 Lenten Campaign

In 2005, the theme chosen for the Lenten campaign is ‘Stand by Me’. The rights to the classic Ben E. King song have been bought and well-known Irish artist Jerry Fish has recorded the song for use in the advertising campaign.

The focus of the planned TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising campaign will be a pastoralist (nomadic or semi-nomadic people who follow their cattle to water) family in Dirre, South Ethiopia. Bedada and Dansa Kule (16 and 6 respectively) embody the poverty and hardship faced by their community but also their hope for a better future. Dansa’s face is pictured on the Trócaire box, which describes what a daily donation of €1 or €2 Euro a day could achieve.

Trócaire launches 2005 Lenten Campaign

Tsunami equivalent twice a year in Ethiopia: Archbishop
20 years after Live Aid, ten million child deaths in Ethiopia

As many children died of malaria in Ethiopia every six months as were said to have died in the Asian tsunami, according to Archbishop Berhaneyesus of Addis Ababa.

As many as 100,000 children died of malaria each year, and, in the 20 years since the Ethiopia famine that killed over half a million people, almost ten million children under the age of five had died in Ethiopia from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea. That was the equivalent of six planeloads of children every single day, he said.

Speaking in Dublin at the launch of the 2005 Lenten campaign (February 8), Archbishop Berhaneyesus said at least one million people would die in Africa this year from malaria, almost five times the amount killed in the tsunami. A further half a million women would die in childbirth and three million from HIV/AIDS. The death of so many young people placed a huge burden on the elderly, who were forced to take up multifaceted roles in the family.

“This is an absolute disgrace and brings shame on every member of the international community,” said the Archbishop. “These silent tsunamis are happening every day and the death toll is staggering. Why is the international community so slow to react? If it happened in Europe, would the response be the same?” he asked. “What will it take before people open their eyes to the horrific and unnecessary human suffering?”

Crop assessments in Ethiopia for 2005 showed that some 7.6 million people would be in need of food aid, the Archbishop pointed out. “Why is a country like Ethiopia always in the news with drought and famine?” he asked. “Is the international community not able to solve this?

The Ethiopian government also had to do its part, he said. “Africa is caught in a poverty trap but Africans also need to help themselves through good governance and better policies. Solving Africa’s problems must be done in partnership.”

If Ethiopia were to meet the targets set in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, it would need at least a doubling of foreign aid, said Archbishop Berhaneyesus.

The alternative, he warned, could be very serious. “Nearly 50 per cent of our population is under 20 years of age. They watch European TV and they see they get nothing here, have no employment, and they are frustrated. This will increase.”

People may turn to violence as a means of having their voices heard, he added. “This is a serious question of world peace and world development and the international community should get this message.

“We need to bear in mind the catastrophe that unfolds every day in Africa. A solution depends on international will, response and contribution.”

Trócaire chairman Bishop John Kirby said one of the invisible tragedies of the huge number of young people dying was the burden it placed on the elderly in many African communities, something the Pope pointed out in his Lenten message. He said the Irish people had responded magnificently to previous Lenten campaigns and that, despite the recent demands on their generosity, he was sure they would do so again in 2005.

“As Archbishop Berhaneyesus reminded us, preventable tsunamis take place in front of our eyes every day. I am sure the Irish people will respond to the needs of the world’s poorest.”

For more information

Emer Mullins
Communications Coordinator
Trócaire
E-Mail: EMullins@trocaire.ie
Tel: Work 01-5053256
Mobile: 086 8124352

Recorded @ the Palais de Glase Spiegeltent, floating on the River Liffey in Dublin,as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival, September 2004
Includes two previously unreleased songs
"Wake Up Call" & "So in Love Again"
Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club - "Live At The Speilgeltent" - OUT: NOV 12th 2004