The Order of Malta (Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta) was established in 1934 and is the leading provider of first aid training in Ireland.

The Order appealed to the Irish public to contribute to allow the continuation of specialist first aid programmes and for the extensive refurbishment of its community care centres.

In its annual report for 2003, the order said it raised E3M during the year and spent E2.8M on vital services.

The Order of Malta is a charitable organisation devoted to helping the poor and the sick in whatever way is appropriate. The Order was established in 1099 before the taking of Jerusalem by the armies of the First Crusade. It began as a monastic community providing a hospice/infirmary for pilgrims.

Later the Order had to take up arms to defend itself and its patients and thus became a religious-military order. In 1291, the Order was defeated in the Holy Land and moved to Cyprus and later to Rhodes.

From there it moved to Malta in 1522 and remained here until 1798 when it moved to Russia and eventually to Rome where the present Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, occupies the Palazzo di Malta in the Via Condotti, and, with the Sovereign Council, rules the 12,000-strong Knights and Dames of the Order. The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta is the oldest Order of Chivalry in Christendom.