Tag Archives: ukraine

UKRAINIAN president Volodymyr Zelensky met with Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan at Shannon Airport, according to posts on social media on Saturday. Mr Zelensky had been returning to Ukraine following a visit to Canada and the US, where he had addressed the United Nations General Assembly. The Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Larysa Gerasko was also at Saturday’s meeting. In a post on Twitter the Ukrainian leader wrote, “At Shannon Airport I held an unscheduled meeting with President of the Transitional Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. “I am grateful for Sudan’s consistent support of Ukraine’s soverignity and territorial integrity. “We discussed common security challenges, namely the activities of illegal armed groups financed by Russia. “I invited him to support the Grain From Ukraine initiative and take part in this year’s summit. “We considered possible platforms for intensifying co-operation between Ukraine and African countries.” As well as playing an important role in the Russian war effort against Ukraine, the …

Irish companies can play a major role in the rebuilding of Ukraine, despite the ongoing war with Russia. That’s according to Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) who has returned to Clare after visiting Ukraine for the third time as part of a European political delegation. At the 2022 ALDE Annual Congress in Dublin, the Mountshannon native was elected as the Co-President of the grouping of liberal European political parties. Senator Dooley was invited as Co-President of the ALDE party to meet various parliamentarians and political leaders in Ukraine. He met President Zelensky, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and a number of government ministers. This is his third visit, having previously travelled to Ukraine in February and April 2022. The Mountshannon native said the Ukraine Minister for Reconstruction is anxious to bring construction expertise for other countries including Ireland via companies with good engineering and design skills to reinstate roads and bridges and other essential infrastructure that has been targeted. Despite the fact …

A UNIQUE exhibition of photographs by a Ukrainian Woman living in a Gort is being launched this coming Sunday, March 26 in The Hidden Gem Café in Bridge Street.  ‘Gort Night Shadows’ is an exhibition of photographs of the town and its surroundings at night, accompanied by poetry about Ireland through the eyes of Polina Bashkina who arrived in Gort in March 2022 after fleeing the war in Ukraine.  The exhibition runs up to the end of April and all funds raised will be donated to Ukrainian Animal Charities. “I started learning to draw,” Polina said. “And I ran out of black paint first. No wonder: even being far away, you are attuned to the colour scheme of your country – to the darkness that is trying to absorb the light of my Ukraine. However, in Ireland, I discovered that black could be poetic.” Polina is a writer from Ukraine who temporarily lives in Gort due to the war in her country. In November 2021, Polina’s book …

CLARE musicians have banded together to show their support for the Irish Red Cross’ ongoing humanitarian work in Ukraine. A fundraising night of music has been organised in Ennis with performances by Isolated Frequency, U Can Dance and Patrick Roche along with some special guests. The event, in Treacy’s West County Hotel, will take place on Friday, February 10 starting at 9pm with people urged put on their dancing shows and enjoy a night of music while supporting a worthy cause. The fundraiser has been organised by a committee including Nigel Devine, Steve Flaherty, Katie Devine, Mayor of Ennis Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy and Deputy Mayor Councillor Mary Howard. Nigel tells us they were moved to do something having seen the effects the war has had on the people of Ukraine. “We have all seen the pictures on TV and how the whole world has been affected by what is going on in Ukraine. It’s always the innocent that suffer. …

CLARE TD Cathal Crowe has made an official complaint to the Ceann Comhairle, alleging the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth failed to provide him with information about the provision of a new emergency accommodation facility in Shannon. He appeared on RTE current affairs show Drive Time last week and said that only while on the show he found out that the Department had provided a reporter with information that Deputy Crowe himself had sought, but been refused. “I was flabbergasted because there was information on the airwaves that I wasn’t aware of, and when I tried to get information via the most official route of all, a Parliamentary Question, I was told it was commercially sensitive and they couldn’t tell me.” He said he has been left completely in the dark about the details of plans to place refugees in the Shannon Free Zone. “It’s been a week since I lodged it to the office of the …

TEMPERS rose and those with different views shouted at each other at a public meeting on Saturday afternoon regarding the use of a building in the Shannon Free Zone for refugee accommodation. Around 200 people came to the meeting which was held at Shannon Town Park and which had been publicised through social media. The turnout itself was interesting; particularly given that there was only a few days notice and relatively poor weather conditions. Going by the comments made and the levels of applause at certain stages, around 80-90% were opposed or at least uneasy about the use of the large industrial building for emergency accommodation, while a minority were in favour of it happening. There was no evidence of common ground between the two sides, and on this afternoon’s evidence there is significant opposition in the town to taking in another large cohort of refugees, with claims that Shannon does not have the amenities, the health services or school …

FAKE news and rumours pose a huge threat to the stability of communities hosting those fleeing Ukraine and other war-torn regions, a number of Clare councillors have warned. The issue of far right propaganda and its impact on communities accommodating refugees and asylum seekers was raised by North Clare’s Councillor Joe Garrihy during a discussion of supports for rural Ireland. The Lisdoonvarna man described as “very worrying” the gap between communities on the ground who are the “frontline”, and the supports being provided by government. The Fine Gael member described the impact of the pandemic as “seismic” and that communities were now being called on in another crisis situation.  “Now, we’re affected and responding to the largest humanitarian response that the country has ever seen in the history of the State,” he said. He added that while all of the community development guidelines advised working from the ground up, this was a challenge in the current situation. “Through the humanitarian …

A Ukrainian artist, living in Ennis, Yeni Goryeva, has painted a portrait of Irish showjumper Conor Swail, and is hoping to contact him to present him with the painting. The Ennis based artist painted Swaile from a magazine cover. Yeni came from Kiev earlier in the year and now lives in a hotel in Ennis with other members of her family. Yeni is an artist and was also the owner and professional hairdresser at her beauty salon in Ukraine. But everything changed on February 24 with the start of the war and Yeni and her daughter Anastasia came to live for now, to Ennis. While living in Ireland for the last few months she has been inspired by beautiful nature, people and Irish people’s hospitality. She never stopped painting her art work and this year her work has featured in art exhibitions called ‘A Ukrainian Artist’s View of Ireland’. One day in a store Yeni saw a magazine with a man …