By Michelle McGlynn
Singer Niall Horan has donated €100,000 to Alone, the organisation that supports older people, enabling them to continue providing vital support and assistance during the coronavirus crisis.
The former One Direction star said that is was a real pleasure to donate to the cause.
"Through interactions with the Irish government and HSE about critical and immediate support that Ireland needed, I found out that ALONE was a charity doing fantastic work looking after older people all over the country," said Horan.
"With greater support they will be able to reach so many more, always a priority but especially during this unprecedented crisis."
Alone has dedicated additional resources to help older people in our communities during the pandemic while the crisis has forced their fundraising events to be cancelled or postponed making every donation extremely welcome.
The charity said that Niall's donation will ensure that it can continue and develop further into the future.
CEO Seán Moynihan said that they were very grateful to Niall and the money with make a huge difference to the people they support.
"We would like to thank him for his wonderful generosity.
"Our message throughout this period to every older person has been ‘you are not alone’.
"We would like to thank Niall for helping us to continue to make this a reality and support older people across Ireland.”
Alone is operating a national support line offering advice and support during this difficult period including difficulties in relation to physical and mental health, loneliness, isolation, finance, safety and housing.
The support line can be reached on 0818 222 024 seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
“At the moment we are putting huge resources into keeping the national Covid-19 phone line for older people operating and ensuring that older people have the emotional and practical supports they need to get through this crisis.
"We want to ensure that the support we provide, which has proven so vital over the last few weeks, can continue after the crisis is over.
"It is supporters like Niall that help to make this happen.”
Last month, Niall took part in a series of Instagram live gigs to raise money for Childine.
Today, he is joining the Global Citizen concert, One World: Together at Home.
He will be joining a host of other musicians and actors - including his former band mate Liam Payne and Hozier - to raise money for the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The concert which will be streamed live was curated in collaboration with Lady Gaga and features a line-up boasting some of the world's biggest artists including Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Elton John, Eddie Vedder, Shawn Mendes, Stevie Wonder and more.
RTÉ will air a two-hour special across RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ 2fm on Sunday at 7pm.
