In 1988, a group of young Irish guys from UCD in Dublin, landed in NYC to spend the summer working in Montauk. They worked hard and played hard and have all gone on to be successful businessmen in places all over the world.

When they heard the news about the collapsed balcony in Berkeley, CA, and that many of the victims were J-1 students from Ireland, they felt they had to do something.

They connected through email and Facebook and set up a fundraising page on gofundme.com to help the families who have been affected by this tragedy.

Ronan Ryan, one of the organizers said: “I was one of those J-1 students in 1988. My parents sent me off to America to earn some money and I went home that summer with $2000 in my pocket. I thought I was the richest guy in the world. Things in Ireland weren’t great in the eighties and summer jobs were hard to find.

"When I heard about this awful tragedy in Berkeley, I reached out to some of my former classmates from UCD, including Conor Moore, who now lives in San Francisco. Along with Tom FitzGerald and Mitchel Simpson in Dublin, we set up a fundraising page to help the families of the victims. I can’t even imagine what they are going through right now."

The Go Fund Me campaign is open to anybody who wishes to help the families following this tragic accident. You can donate here: www.gofundme.com/berkeleytragedy.