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MORE THAN 12,000 Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed to Ireland since the Russian invasion began just over four weeks ago.
The government here has made a number of arrangements to support those fleeing Ukraine, including lifting visa requirements and providing social welfare supports.
The government is also housing those arriving into the country in hotels temporarily until longer-term accommodation is available to them.
As part of our ongoing series of Q&A articles covering Russia’s war on Ukraine, we’re answering some of the dozens of reader questions sent to us asking how people can help house or otherwise help some of the thousands of refugees arriving in Ireland.
For those seeking to offer help to Ukrainian refugees, there are a number of things people can do:
Can I offer a place to stay?
Yes. The Irish Red Cross is running the official register of accommodation offers for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland.
There are two options:
There have been 22,657 pledges of accommodation – shared and unshared – offered through this Irish Red Cross portal to date.
Of this, 4,896 pledges relate to vacant properties. The Defence Forces, who have been tasked to assist in the accommodation process, have already made contact in respect of 1,112 vacant properties to arrange inspections.
Vacant properties can be apartments or houses, the Red Cross says. They should have at least one bedroom and can be offered by private landlords, people with second homes, businesses, letting agents, charities and community groups.
Those offering the property should be prepared to make a 12-month commitment. Properties must be in reasonable condition. A tenancy agreement will be entered into as part of the process.
For shared properties, at least one single room must be available, again for a minimum of 12 months.
Shared properties must include direct access to cook facilities and ideally a private bathroom. The spare room should be private and of a reasonable size.
All properties, whether vacant or with a spare room available, must be close to public transport and within a short commute to villages/towns/cities.
As part of the process an assessment of the property will take place. In cases involving Ukrainian families with children, or those considered to be vulnerable persons, garda vetting of the host family (members aged over 16) will be done by the Garda National Vetting Bureau. This process is expected to take around seven days.
Assessments of vacant properties are currently being prioritised, but the Red Cross expects them to move on to properties with spare rooms in two to three weeks.
A spokesperson for the charity said they had been “overwhelmed by the response of Irish people and really grateful to them” for their offers of homes for those fleeing Ukraine.
They asked that people remain patient as they work through the properties, stating that they will start contacting people who offered spare rooms over the next few weeks.
Red Cross caseworkers will be in regular contact with hosts to support them and the newly arrived person/family from Ukraine.
A group of mental health professionals has also compiled a guide for those who will be in contact with refugees fleeing the war.
The Psychological Fist Aid for Refugee Care document offers practical advice on how to support those who have been through the trauma of war and having to leave their homes and country.
Tips include:
Are there ways I could support those trying to find jobs?
If you’re not in a position to offer accommodation to those arriving, there are other supports you could provide, particularly when it comes to helping newly arrived Ukrainians who are seeking work.
The organisation Going Far offers a range of programmes, from mentoring to seminars and workshops for migrants. If you are an established professional working in Ireland, you can volunteer for their mentoring programme.
The organisation has a simplified version of its programme specifically to support those displaced by the war in Ukraine. Volunteers will be expected to meet with their mentee once a week for one hour over a period of one month.
They’ll be expected to provide support with:
You’ll find the application form here.
Could I help people with their English?
The 16 Education and Training Boards around the country offer English language skills courses for adults.
The Department of Further and Higher Education said in response to a query from The Journal that the ETB will identify appropriate language and additional learning supports to support Ukrainians wishing to develop their English.
Ukrainians wishing to improve their English can contact a local ETB for an assessment of their competency across reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. This service is free and contact details for Ukrainians wishing to access it will be posted shortly on the Government website.
The City of Dublin ETB told The Journal that there are plans to provide an increased level of English language classes for adults from April to meet the needs of newly-arrived Ukrainians. The CDETB is currently recruiting additional tutors to teach basic English language/literacy courses in community environments across the city.
The Department of Higher Further and Higher Education said it will monitor the need for language skills courses in light of the number of Ukrainians arriving in Ireland and will make arrangements for additional measures if necessary.
There is currently no official system for volunteering your time if you have teaching experience or want to help in a more informal way with language learning. However the Department of Rural and Community Development is working to establish local community action groups to support Ukrainians arriving in Ireland.
The Department of Further and Higher Education will feed into this process, including English language supports, so there may be opportunities for volunteering in this way further down the line.
How can businesses help?
A new website has been set up as a portal for businesses to offer Ukrainian refugees in Ireland free and discounted goods and services.
Pryvit.ie – Privyit means ‘hello’ in Ukrainian – was set up by volunteers who wanted to help Ukrainian refugees. The site says it doesn’t receive any money from people or companies availing of it.
Some of the services listed on the site include free childcare places, CV support, hot desking space, cups or coffee and haircuts.
What if I can’t do any of these things?
Although Ukrainians arriving in Ireland will need a lot of support, those living in the besieged country and the millions fleeing over the borders still need help.
Charities have repeatedly encouraged people who want to support Ukraine to donate money instead of physical items.
There are a lot of ways to donate to help refugees who have left Ukraine.
An Irish Red Cross spokesperson said: “Money is the best way to support the people out there. A lot of what goes out there in trucks from organised collections ends up in landfill.”
He said organisations like the Red Cross can source essential items such as nappies, hygiene kits and clothing on location “at a much better price”.
Media and communications manager for Unicef Ireland Danny Smits said the organisation has seen a “huge upsurge in donations” since the invasion.
“In an emergency like this, it’s about getting the critical supplies, medical supplies and vaccines and different kinds of items, sanitation services, and water supplies into the hands of families and children as fast as possible,” he said.
The charity has so far sent 85 trucks with 800 tonnes of emergency supplies from a humanitarian warehouse in Denmark to Ukraine.
Donations also go towards maintaining areas called ‘blue dots’ set up in countries bordering Ukraine for refugees.
“These are safe spaces where families can go to get more information, to register for different services, get access to counselling and some of the local services in their host countries,” Smits said.
“These blue dots are acting as safe havens and giving children, on many occasions, their first opportunity to relax and a safe space where they can play.”
The organisation also particularly watches out for children crossing the border from Ukraine alone to protect them from trafficking.
Unicef Ireland’s Ukraine appeal has so far raised over €9.5 million in donations from people and companies across the country.
On the ground in Ukraine, Red Cross workers and volunteers are helping to maintain Ukrainian infrastructure by setting up fresh water links.
They also work to ensure access to healthcare and help people contact relatives. They provide basic needs such as water, food, clothing and blankets as well as hygiene kits and cash or vouchers.
They are also directly involved in negotiating with troops to arrange humanitarian corridors to get people out of besieged areas.
On the borders of Ukraine, the funds are used to set up humanitarian points with access to essential services such as healthcare, water, sanitation and mental health supports.
They also provide people who cross the border with cash as many have run out of money over the course of their journey out of Ukraine.
Donations also go towards the implementation of protection and prevention measures, including child safeguarding.
Contributions to the Red Cross are fed into the International Federation of the Red Cross to support work both in Ukraine and the humanitarian hubs in surrounding countries. They also go towards supporting the charity’s with work refugees arriving into Ireland, so donating money is still a way for you to help the people who come here.
The Irish Red Cross provides meet, greet and transport services at airports and ferry ports – reception hubs have been opened at Dublin Airport and Rosslare Port – psycho-social first aid, information and voucher supports to assist with their immediate food and non-food needs.
This week the charity said it has received around €20 million in donations since the invasion of Ukraine began last month. Of that, €15 million came from members of the public, while €5 million was donated by businesses.
The charity has a target of €26 million for its Ukraine appeal to fund an initial plan for interventions over a two-year timeframe.
Dóchas, the Irish association of development NGOs, has compiled a list of organisations with open appeals to support Ukraine:
If you’re part of a local community group or organisation providing a service or supports to newly-arrived Ukrainian refugees and you’re looking for volunteers, we want to hear from you. Contact michelle@thejournal.ie.
Reporting by Michelle Hennessy & Orla Dwyer. Edited by Daragh Brophy.
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One anonymous Minister said Dublin and Limerick are on a ‘knife-edge’. Could it be the same Minister who mentioned ‘tipping-points’ and a national lockdown a few weeks ago? The same Minister who said one Monday a few weeks back that ICU numbers had doubled over the weekend, when in fact they were 8 on the Friday and still 8 on Monday. There is 6 in ICU at the moment so we’ve actually had a 25% drop in ICU numbers if out Ministers want to throw figures around
@Anna Anna:
Here’s a figure Anna.
6 months.
6 months we’ve worked to keep the deaths down, to keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed.
But sure some people want to get trashed in a niteclub.
So let’s throw that 6 months away.
@Brinster: #lockdowntheroads. Eliminate road deaths!
@Brinster: yeah all those elderly men love getting ‘trashed’ in the rural nightclubs. Great point
@Brinster: Ehh nightclubs aren’t opening!
@Sean O’ Donovan: Take in the roads, sorted.
@Brinster: hand in your driving licence! Some people die while driving!
@Brinster:
Pls don’t get overwhelmed by your anxieties. Let’s have some perspective and mature risk analysis. Smoking causes cancer, yet cigarettes are not banned. Depression leads to suicide, but only those at risk take anti depressants. Sugar causes obesity, yet it’s not rationed or banned. If we have the risks explained and help the sillies amongst us to do the right thing we will learn to live with Coronavirus. We cannot control all risks but we can manage them.
@Brinster: has nobody told you there is a difference between a pub and a nightclub, they are two totally different entities. Wake up and smell the coffee, nobody in their right mind expects nightclubs to open any time soon.
@Brinster: no one is calling for nightclubs to open. And I think everyone agrees that pubs that breach the guidelines should be shut immediately
@Brinster: how should we be closed so ? Sorry to say but life and the economy has to get back to normal, we have just started a recession, let’s see what damage that will cause.
@Brinster: who said anything about nightclubs??
@Anna Anna: Limerick on a knife edge, huh. 17 cases? And the country and city population for Limerick, 100,000, I for one don’t understand the logic.
Wouldn’t we be safe if we spent €9 on peanuts at the pubs?
@Sean O’ Donovan: yawn
@Sean O’ Donovan:
Would it be safer with hundreds crowded into a small area, all bananas drunk?
Or are you trying to say that that’ll never happen?
@Sean O’ Donovan: wtf is the obsession with pubs on here,it’s getting pathetic.meanwhile this virus is coming hard down the tracks for its second wave
@Brinster: Warning: Level 4 Biosafety lab virus is on the loose. Masks and sanitizer will save us all! Here’s one I knitted myself!There are hundreds and thousands packed into schools as is. While they’re not drunk, watch school kids walking home socially distancing, or you we can just close our eyes and just listen to what we’re being told.
@boss hogg: I don’t even drink. WTF is the obsession with destroying family businesses and scaring everyone with daily figures?
@Brinster: Even with isolated reported clusters when bars have reopened across Europe there has been no associated impact on hospitalizations. Denmark have been open a couple of months with 2am close and no impact. Same with majority of European countries.
@Sean O’ Donovan: the Irish cannot be trusted in pubs especially younger people,it’s a breeding ground for the virus and the young will spread it onto the elderly.the government needs to step in and subsidize the industry massively but they won’t
@boss hogg: you know it all….fair play
The pubs are going open they’re not going to open they are going to open the next time no they’re not going to open this time talk about psychological Warfare
@Paul Maguire: this was before 300 new cases announced tonight
@thomas patrick: but they would have had an indication what was coming because they’re most have been an increase in tests. This would have been suspected for 2 days at least.
@thomas patrick: do you really think the government didn’t know the numbers before they made the announcement?
@Paul Maguire: yeah this is a war. The journal, mainstream media and establishment are the foot soldiers. Irish ppl are the victims
Here is a summary of this article: “may not reopen”, “may not be allowed”, “will be allowed”, “will depend”, “but added”, “dilemma”, “may result”.
Right – so, if the numbers go up it means we won’t get to go to the pub. Let’s all be good boys and girls.
@Daragh Curtis: it’s genuinely pathetic how desperate people are for the pubs to reopen.
@Dan Jones: ya terrible that people want to get back to work to pay their bills and mortgages, so shocking.
@Tom Bombdadil: you can try mask it up with saying it’s for jobs but it’s just a load of people with nothing better to do than sit in a pub from mid day Saturday and Sunday and get wrecked. Once they’ve had there tipple they could care less because in reality that’s all they got going on for them.
Oh so they’re going to hold the pubs to ransom again! The government is like a strict teacher, behave yourselves, or you won’t get your treat!! Unbelievable!
@Freda Hanratty: So public policy should pay no regard to changes in case nos. or nos. in ICU?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: Only country in Europe to still have pubs fully closed!
@ShaneO’Mac: also one of the few countries in Europe not consistantly reporting deaths. (at least at the moment), but I suppose you didn’t know that, rather than choose to ignore it. It would be an interesting fact check for the journal, “Is it true that Ireland is the only country in Europe where pubs are not fully opened”
How did a death occur in mid September?? Wow they can predict when people die now!
@Sommer Church: Great Scott!
Is anyone even listening to them anymore? They’ve changed their minds so many times, and dangled that carrot in front of us so often, that nobody believes they will actually ever open the pubs. They only mention opening them just to pacify us, and then withdraw the promise again!
I was waiting to see how long it would be before they done yet another u turn. Flip flop flip flop all over again.
@Derek Anderson: long enough to make sure publicans were safely on their way home. Todays earlier announcement was for appeasement looks like.
They will not! Open pubs when they’re not open. I’ll storm down the doors and pull my own pint
@Ross: leave it to the experts… your pint would be all head
@Ross: you’re a grown man Ross. Act accordingly
OPEN THE POLLING STATIONS!!
Mid September? So the death occured in the future? I swear to god the proof reading on the journal is diabolical, there not one single artical that doesn’t have a f$ck up in it.
@John Doyle: the death occurred this week. It was only reported today
@Annie: it’s Tuesday..
Leave the pubs open but they do need to address the issues in Dublin and limerick. Restrict movement outside of Dublin and limerick for two weeks to see if it sorts out the rising numbers.
@Paddy Murray: I agree our monkeys in government are kicking the can down the road in regards to dublin, waiting now until nxt wk, more like waiting for the no.s to decrease and say Ah sure tis grand now again.
@Paddy Murray: christ they can’t do that! Where would all the ghouls in government go if they restrict Dublin?
@Paddy Murray: The numbers in Dublin are minuscule compared to its population. There is no need to lock Dublin down. What we are witnessing is the result of better and more widespread testing. Let’s maintain some sense of proportion. I’d love to know where the clusters are in Dublin. That would be helpful.
Was thinking the other day, most of Europe during the second World War had six years of misery, food shortages, no money, bombs being dropped, loved ones being killed in horrific numbers, and our generation are giving out about having to wear a mask and wash our hands, the pubs being closed and not being able to get a big mac for a few weeks. P. S. I ate and drank like a pig during lockdown, you can see it in my belly
What good does businesses closing do? if masks work so well, enfore them more, introduce on the spot fines, taking people out of work won’t solve anything 48hrs after announcing a recession.
Lockdown the Internet. Too many online covid experts.
It’s far too soon for the pubs to open
@Jonnie Marre: why exactly do you say that? They should have opened up long ago. Lockdowns by Council Local Electoral Areas or by Dail constituency areas is the way to go.
There’s no such thing as a ‘Wet Pub’
Pubs are Pubs.
Does Coveny mean Dublin will close, or is he threatening the whole country because he hasn’t the guts to do to Dublin, which was done to other counties. Another example of government skulduggery.
@John Farrant: if anything, they might impose restrictions on a targeted area of Dublin. If the majority of cases are in ballsbridge, it would be ludicrous to lock down clontarf
@John Farrant: The rates were far higher in Kildare than in Dublin and I think Govt genuinely feared a massive rise from community transmission. Dublin has over 1.2 million people. Locking down the entire city and county won’t be accepted unless a strong rationale is presented. Where are these cases exacted located and what is the risk? Judging by hospital admissions the risk is fairly low. The Govt need to cope on and explain the situation based on risk analysis which also takes into account the damage caused by lockdowns and Covid restrictions on hospital admissions. The solution to everything cannot be “lockdown”. The country will be bankrupted. And based on risk assessment per hospital admissions further lockdowns do not seem justified. Simply enforce the existing sensible guidelines.
@Anne Marie Devlin: lock down all of dublin for 3 weeks just to be sure
Pubs will be a thing of the past by the end of 2020
@WreckDefier: at the rate this government is going yes they will.
This reminds me of the situation prior to the Italy-Ireland rugby match and Cheltenham. The government stalled and stalled on locking things down, with the net result that there were far more cases and far more deaths.
@Kevin Farrell: Gotta give the illusion of spread. Don’t forget all the planes flying in, ferries arriving and “masks don’t work”.
@Kevin Farrell: so what is your answer lock the whole country down again?
The country is on its knees financially – there are many counties with no current cases. The answer is to lockdown on a Council Local Electoral Area or on a Dail Constituency basis, that is the only way we can do this and still Keep the country functioning economically.
There is clearly no point trying to debate this issue with Ireland’s answer to the Taliban who log on everyday and dominate the Journal’s Comments section.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
We had the longest lockdown of the EU and the restrictions are still in place. We had the numbers low and the virus was pretty much gone out of the country.
Nursing homes, meat plants and direct provision were called out as issues. Even travelling was called out.
The borders were never closed and only travelling Irish residents were penalised. The issues with meat plants and direct provision weren’t worked sufficiently.
The government wasted the longest lockdown in European (and many also shown what they think of the own rules in Clifden) and is now playing games with the livelihoods of many business owners who weren’t allowed to work for half a year…
I understand nightclubs be closed but why Ireland shouldn’t take notes from other countries with better stats is beyond me.
THEY ONLY SAID THEY COULD OPEN BECAUSE THEY KNEW THIS WAS COMING
Keep the pubs closed the government is giving in to the publicans pressure
@Noel Donohue: Well, you bviously don’t work in the industry, I’m 65+ and no income since 16th March (can’t live on the OAP)
“Oh no they won’t…”
@Fionn Condren:
Oh yes they will…. Oh no they won’t… Oh yes they will.. Like a feckin Pantomime!!
Jesus..let’s just lock down everything..and stay indoors ..do nothing ..jesus christ …
I have been taking the Dart/Train pretty regularly towards Bray, over the last number of Months, passing the testing Center, at the AViva statium, today is the first day, that I have witnessed any serious activity at it, there were lines of cars, backed up the street, but it’s the first day I have noticed any sort of this.
Ireland’s rate is below the U. K., but not below Scotlands.
What about the letter going around to all publicans asking them if they’re interested in selling?? And weatherspoons lurking in the shadows. There’s a hidden agenda rearing it’s ugly head
Death occurred in mid September.. We can tell the future now..
have your say