A CLARE man, who along with others from the county travelled to Ukraine as part of a humanitarian effort has described the response from charities on their arrival to the war torn country as “truly humbling”.
Ennis’ Keir McNamara and Cathal Talty from Lissycasey, as well as Darragh’s Anthony Gavin and son Shane, a student of St Flannan’s College, joined the ‘4x4s for Ukraine’ campaign earlier this year, bringing much needed supplies and aid but also support vehicles to the frontline.
According to Keir there are plans for another convoy to leave Ireland in the spring and he is urging anybody who can support the cause to make contact.
A “substantial” amount of blankets and pillows have been donated and have been recently shipped to Ukraine.
The four were part of a convoy organised by a team based in The Stockhouse Restaurant in Trim County Meath.
Keir and Cathal travelled in a Mitsubishi Pajero, which they dubbed ‘Disco Jeep’ while Anthony and Shane set out in their family Sante Fe, with both vehicles handed over to Ukrainian charities on their arrival.
Before heading off they collected medical and humanitarian aid which they packed in the vehicles to bring to Ukraine.
In all 14 vehicles made the five-day journey from Ireland across six international borders. This was the seventh convoy for the Irish 4x4s for Ukraine group and the journey took them across 2600km.
“I visited Ukraine about 15 months before the war started. Seeing places I had visited just a short time previously being destroyed by missile attacks was very upsetting,” said Mr McNamara.
“I was also in Warsaw attending meetings on the day the war broke out. Witnessing the immediate positive response and solidarity of the Polish people to the influx of refugees who started to arrive almost immediately into the city was uplifting.”
“Here in Clare, I have met many people who have quietly and freely given over their homes and other properties to Ukrainian families for nothing.
“This far exceeds any efforts we made in our journey out to Ukraine. We in Clare have a rich tradition of helping out in countries in need.
“What started with many missionaries from our county has been added to by many who have journeyed to challenging locations to work for NGO’s, and specifically Clare based groups like the Burren Chernobyl Project, Building of Hope projects in South Africa and Kenya, and the Pemba Support Charity in Tanzania to name a few has seen many Clare people travel to difficult locations to help make other peoples lives better.
“We are just part of what so many Clare people have done before in this regard and will no doubt continue to do.”
Reflecting on the journey he said, “I was joined on this trip by Cathal Talty from Lissycasey, whose late Aunt, Sr Eithel Normyle founded and ran Missionvale in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Anthony Gavin and his son Shane from Darragh came forward with their family 4×4 on hearing about our journey and had a great adventure.
“We wore the Clare colours on our day going into Ukraine which got a great response from our hosts given its similarity to Ukrainian national flag.
“The response from the Ukrainian charities who took the vehicles and humanitarian aid from us was truly humbling.
“At a time that the war in Ukraine is slipping from international media coverage, to see a group of Irish civilians taking time out using their resources to travel across Europe to deliver aid is inspiring for them. We received a wonderful reception and home made gifts on our arrival.”
He concluded, “Plans are already being made for another convoy in the spring.
“We intend to keep fundraising and gathering useful medical equipment that we can send out via the direct links we know. Please make contact if you have something of use. The coverage of our trip has already led to the donation of a substantial amount of blankets and pillows from a source in Clare which we are currently organising the packing and shipping of to Ukraine next week.”
To make contact regarding donations, Keir can be contacted at his workplace Turnpike Acupuncture Clinic, 065 6841280.