Dublin, April 10 (RHC)-- The rock band U2 donated $10.9 million to buy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies to fight COVID-19 in Ireland.

Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton thus joined a fundraising project led by the plane rental company Avolon, which works with other public and private companies to import medical supplies from China.

Earlier this wee, the first shipment with these supplies arrived in Dublin and included 40 respirators, 60,000 goggles, 200,000 face masks, and over one million disposable gloves.  So far, the Irish government has invested over $200 million in the purchase of Chinese EPIs, which are being transported on dozens of flights carried out by the airline Aer Lingus.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar indicated that the quantity of medical supplies being imported would serve, in "normal circumstances", to equip health workers for about 13 years.  This Christian Democrat politician thanked the economic donation made by the U2 musicians and stressed that "all help" is welcome at this time.

"When all this is over, we will have a stockpile of material and could help other countries that need it," said Varadkar, who is also a physician.