Tag Archives: ukraine war

EDUCATION Minister Norma Foley has said that attempts will be made to provide Clare schools with the resources they need to accommodate the large amount of refugees who have arrived in the county since the start of 2022. Concerns have been voiced by Ms Foley’s party colleague Cathal Crowe about a shortage of school places in Shannon, and the Minister said in Ennis last Friday, that attempts must be made to match accommodation with where schools have extra capacity. “I want to acknowledge in the first instance the incredible work that has been done by schools throughout the country, notably here in Clare. “It’s nothing short of remarkable, what has been achieved by school communities. We’ve been very lucky in one respect that we’ve had capacity to provide places for almost 14,000 students. Notwithstanding that, we still have more students coming, we have capacity for around 50,000 places at primary level and around 20,000 places at post primary. “The challenge …

CLARE County Council has been allocated almost €3 million to support communities that are hosting refugees from Ukraine and other countries. The allocation is the third highest to a local authority in the country, representing the significant role Clare has already played in supporting international protection applicants. Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said that the money will come from a €50 million Community Recognition Fund for sports clubs, community organisations, transport infrastructure and local groups. “The €2,925,549 awarded to Clare County Council recognises the significant role played by Clare communities in supporting refugees and helping them integrate into the educational, recreational and social life of towns and villages around the county,” Deputy Carey explained. “It is important that community representatives engage directly with Clare County Council over the coming weeks to ensure that high quality projects can be delivered, benefitting their towns and villages for years to come.” Projects that qualify for support include the refurbishment of local sports …

COUNTY Councillors at this week’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District slammed plans to house refugees in an industrial building at the Shannon Free Zone and also criticised the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) for the secrecy it has maintained around the plans. The meeting also heard warnings that a lack of information can give an opportunity for misinformation to flourish, and give the far right an opening to exploit. Following the criticism at Tuesday’s Shannon Municipal District meeting DCEDIY told the Clare Champion it has no option but to take advantage of any type of accommodation available, while it said there would be communication with local representatives before the facility does open. At Tuesday’s meeting Sinn Féin’s Donna McGettigan said the Department’s decision not to make information available was leading to “all sorts of innuendo”. She also said councillors have been called liars when they have said they don’t know what the plans for accommodation in …

NEW figures from the Department of Education show that there are now 531 Ukrainian children in Clare primary schools and another 326 in the county’s second level schools. Cork, Donegal, Dublin and Kerry are the only counties with more Ukrainian pupils, however even Donegal and Kerry have significantly greater populations than Clare, as well as Cork and Dublin. Overall around 6.5% of the Ukrainian children attending Irish schools are doing so in County Clare. While the numbers are large, Clare TD Cathal Crowe said that the Department of Education have coped quite well with a very challenging situation. “Capacity is a problem, yet capacity can always be increased if decisions are taken quickly to do so. I would think that from the get-go Minister Norma Foley’s office have been one of the better departments to engage. “They set up a team of people in each regional area, so there’s a Mid-West team that have been dealing with school principals. “There …

SAINT Nicholas will pay a visit to Ennis this weekend as part of an interactive theatre production which aims to bring joy to Ukrainian children in Clare. On Sunday, December 18 the Feast of St Nicholas, the Civic Room of the Buttermarket Building in Drumbiggle will be transformed by Ennis drama club “Ptashka” and Clare Local Development Company for their ‘St Nicholas Workshop’ performance. The event will feature workshops, sweets, gifts and, of course, a meeting with your favourite saint Saint Nicholas. The first performance of the Ptashka drama group is the Saint Nicholas holiday. St Nicholas, Sviatyij Mykolai, comes to Ukraine on December 19 in the Orthodox Julian calendar. The night before, December 18 is often called “Magic Night”.  It is seen as a universal children’s festival, when the saint leaves sweets or games for children.  It is also a Ukrainian tradition for children to perform a play in honour of Saint Nicholas. “We believe that it will be a …

AN internationally renowned Ukrainian artist who fled the war in his country this year and found refuge in Clare is holding an exhibition in Ennistymon from this Friday. The exhibition of Yevhen Svitlychnyi’s work entitled ‘The Burren – Ukrainian Chronicles Part II’ will be opened by the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Gerasko Larysa. Earlier work on this theme was displayed at the Burren College of Art in July this year. Mr Svitlychnyi said, “As a result of the war, like so many of my compatriots I was forced to flee Ukraine, and by the fortunate intervention of my friends I arrived in Ireland, into the warm and welcoming embrace of Ireland and its people. “I travelled to Ballyvaughan, in this magical place that is The Burren, and was introduced to the wonderful people at the Burren College of Art who have been so welcoming, generous and supportive of my work.” The first part of the exhibition The Burren – Ukrainian …

HOMEWORK clubs started for Ukrainian children in West and North Clare in recent weeks are already proving themselves to be a success, with hopes of expanding the idea to other parts of the county and maybe further afield. The Homework Club Project, established by Clare Local Development company started for Ukrainian children on October 10 in Kilkee, and on October 17 in Ballyvaughan. Lisdoonvarna’s Homework Club is now up and running successfully for the last three weeks and that one is also open to local children in Direct Provision. Project Leader for the three clubs, Ailbhe Crowley of Clare Local Development Company Ailbhe explains how they work. “These are Ukrainian afterschool homework clubs. We already have homework clubs running around Clare in the Deis schools and these were hugely successful, so after the Ukrainian new arrivals had got involved in the summer camps we decided to expand the homework club system.” “The idea has been a great success so far, we began to …

A NEW appeal has been launched seeking Clare properties to house people who have fled the war in Ukraine. Clare County Council is urging those who have unoccupied properties to offer them as temporary homes. The call is part of a new government initiative, led by local authorities, to make use of unoccupied houses, apartments or holiday homes to house Ukrainian people and families. A tax-free recognition payment of €800 per month is available for properties used to house those arriving from Ukraine. This payment rate applies from December 1, 2022. More than 60,000 people have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine seeking safety and the vast majority need accommodation. Under a new programme, Clare County Council will take offers of houses, apartments, or holiday homes for temporary accommodation, liaise with owners to assess suitability, and arrange for their use by Ukrainian people and families. Property owners can offer homes at offerahome.ie or by contacting Clare County Council via email at: offerahome@clarecoco.ie. …