Emrah thanks people of Dundalk

A DUNDALK barber who is originally from Turkey has thanked people who donated new goods to his collection for the victims of the devastating earthquake to hit Turkey and Syria.

Emrah Yildirim, aged 33, has a family-run barbers called Yilmaz Turkish Barbers on Clanbrassil Street.

“I’m from a town called Gaziantep near the Syrian border. Thanks be to God all my family are safe,” said Emrah.

“However, there has been a big damage to my family’s house and they are all afraid. The government has them in a safe place and some are living in a van.”

Emrah has been living in Ireland since 2006 and in Dundalk since 2008. He is married with three young children.

“I got a phone call at 4am on Monday morning on the bank holiday weekend. At first, I didn’t believe what had happened,” he said.

“My wife is also from Turkey and she got panicked. She was so afraid for her family but thankfully, they are okay.

“My brother, who also runs a Turkish barbers in Dundalk, told me that the Turkish Embassy in Dublin were looking for donations.”

Emrah added: “We had a massive response from people living here who wanted to help. Many people donated brand new items and we are very grateful to them.

“However, some people donated old items that weren’t in good condition. Some people even donated high heels.

“We weren’t looking for those type of items. We needed warm jump- ers and coats to help with the cold.”

He continued: “It took a lot of sorting. It was very tiring but thanks to the help of family and friends we got the van packed up and dropped the items to the Turkish Embassy.

“There were over 100 boxes in the end and a lot of bags. Thanks to everybody. Loads of Irish people have been nice.”