HAVING settled around 2,000 Ukrainian people in North Clare, the State’s follow-up response has been abysmal, according to local councillor Joe Garrihy (FG).
This week marked three years since the Russian invasion and Councillor Garrihy said he intends to raising the State’s failure to provide a long term plan for North Clare, with Tanaiste Simon Harris (FG) in the near future.
One in nine people now living in North Clare is originally from Ukraine, the highest proportion of any electoral area in the country, and Councillor Garrihy feels that that reality hasn’t been catered for.
“It’s a complete outlier nationally and there is only so long can people be on emergency response,” he said.
“Everybody wants to be and has been very welcoming, but the uncertainty has been a huge thing.
“On a number of occasions the Department has put new centres and contracts on both Lisdoonvarna and Ballyvaughan without any engagement, onto an already overstretched local community.
“What I’m going to be saying to the Tanaiste is that we were told in November that there would be no more contracts signed and no more additional numbers, while the numbers have decreased, some of the contracts have been embedded, and longer term contracts have been taken out with some operators.
“That’s against the national policy where hotels and tourist accommodation is to go back to tourism use. I want to see a clear plan and a commitment for Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna.”
He said that after three years no one is expecting a quick fix, but that it can’t be ignored any longer.
The fact that issues have been ongoing for so long is taking a toll on the area, he added.
“You can see the wearing of three years in people. A lot of the Ukrainian people have been running on some level of adrenaline,” he said.
“On the other side, the local community, with the uncertainty and the absolutely shambolic and disrespectful way it has been handled by the Department and IPAS are on the verge of trauma all the time.
“There is no trust that the Department has the welfare of the local area in North Clare anywhere in its decision making. We have seen a change since the middle of last summer and we got undertakings last autumn that there would be no increase in numbers and a transition plan. I’m going to be looking for more assurances on that and commitment on it from Simon Harris on Friday.”
Councillor Garrihy also said that it is important that the suffering of the Ukrainian people is not forgotten or diminished.
“At the back of it all is a humanitarian situation. You are talking about families who didn’t choose this in any way, shape or form. No matter what anyone says about our welfare system they did not choose to be living in a hotel room in North Clare,” he said.
“You have a lot of people with exceptional qualifications. There’s a paediatrician, a fantastic lady, who sits on the board of management of the National School in Lisdoonvarna as a parents representative, and she is going through the long process of getting her qualification recognised to be able to practice in Ireland. You have a number of stories like that.”
He said that the Hydro Hotel is finishing its contract this week, with around 150 people leaving, some going to the Imperial, others to Kilkee, Ballyvaughan and other parts of the country.
While returning a hotel to tourism use might give a certain economic boost, he says it also throws up challenges.
“When there was notice that the Hydro was closing that was great news from a tourism perspective and the hope is that it goes back into successful tourism accommodation,” he says. “The other side of it is that I was being contacted by local people and schools saying that the residents were in school or were a critical part of the local workforce and could there be an alternative for them to be able to stay. You have complexity in that. A lot of the people are very skilled and talented.”
He said that there are a lot of issues around accommodation and there is a lot of uncertainty still for Ukrainians.
“It’s three years now and who thought we’d be having this conversation three years ago when Russia started the war? It has been prolonged and as time goes on the challenges and the difficulties change,” he said.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.