Tag Archives: ukraine

One West Clare GAA fan will be watching Sunday’s big match just 10 kilometres from the frontline of the war in Ukraine. Doonbeg man, Oran McInerney, is a final year medical student and currently working for Frontline Medics at a location in the east of Ukraine. The international charity carries out lifesaving medical evacuations of injured soldiers near the front line of conflict zones all over the world. Oran’s work is incredibly dangerous and involves treating and then transporting injured soldiers to the nearest stabilisation point, or field hospital, where they are often operated on by surgeons. This Sunday, Oran will be working a 24 hour shift on the frontline, but he is hopeful of keeping tabs on the big match. “On Sunday I’ll be on a twenty four hour shift and will try my best to catch the game. Not sure will GaaGo work in Ukraine, but you can always hope,” he told The Clare Champion. “If the internet …

  A PUBLIC meeting took place in Kilbaha last night, as locals began a campaign against the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth’s decision to transfer Ukrainian residents of Loop Head Lodge away from the area.   They subsequently released a statement demanding that Government ministers come to one of the most remote parts of the county and hear their concerns.   “The community of the Loop Head Peninsula, Co. Clare, have been devastated to receive the shocking news that their Ukrainian neighbours have been issued with a relocation notice this week.”Considering that this Government encouraged communities to foster inclusivity and integration, why are the people of Loop Head, who absolutely excelled in this regard, now being punished?   “Immediately on hearing about this abrupt ’48-hour notice’ plan for relocation, the community have responded by calling an Emergency Meeting to take place in Halla Eoin, Kilbaha, Co. Clare.  V15W273 on Friday the 28th June at 6pm to which …

ALREADY driven out of their homes and in many cases bereaved due to Russian barbarity, Ukrainian refugees at Phoenix House in Shannon were given just a fortnight’s notice that they would be relocated to Lisdoonvarna. For many of working age it will mean the loss of their jobs as very few of the Ukrainian community there have their own cars. For elderly people it will mean having to get public transport from Lisdoonvarna to Limerick for medical appointments, with the process to be negotiated through a language barrier. For children it means more instability, after already having fled their homes and been through the trauma of witnessing the horror of war up close. On  last Friday afternoon, many of the Ukrainians who have to leave Phoenix House spoke to the Clare Champion about having to start over again. Most of those we spoke to were from cities that have become familiar to Irish people from the Russian barbarity of the …

MINISTER Roderic O’Gorman has today claimed that Ukrainian refugees are being moved from Phoenix House in Shannon due to concerns about the suitability of the building. The 75 residents have received just two weeks notice that they will have to leave the building they have called home for some time, as they are to be transferred to Lisdoonvarna. Several of residents this week told the Clare Champion that the move will see them have to quit jobs they have taken up locally, while there are concerns about the impact of the sudden move on children already traumatised as a result of the Russian violence inflicted on their home towns. In a message to Clare TD Cathal Crowe on Wednesday, Minister O’Gorman said, “The contract for this property was terminated due to concerns raised following a site visit by the Ukraine Compliance team, along with QTS, an independent inspection company hired by the Department, and the Department of Social Protection. The …

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. …