The Irish head of a charity for children affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster visited Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, on the one-year anniversary Sunday of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima crisis.
Adi Roche, chief executive officer of the Cork, Ireland-based Chernobyl Children International charity group, met with Minamisoma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai and delivered a message from Irish President Michael Higgins expressing solidarity with residents of the city, the southern part of which is in the no-go zone.
During her meeting with the mayor, Roche extended "heartfelt condolences" on behalf of the Irish people and victims of the Chernobyl disaster, adding that Sakurai's "own courage and bravery" in seeking aid immediately after the disaster was admirable.