Refugees/Ukraine

• People who come to Ireland seeking refuge and who find themselves in Tralee, Co. Kerry, are getting a kickstart as barista trainees serving ethically-produced coffee from a converted horsebox. Located on Boherbee Road, near Austin Stack GAA Stadium, the Coffee Pod is one of the most impactful social enterprises in the country.

More than three and a half years after the Russian invasion saw millions of Ukrainians displaced, efforts in the north west of Ireland to integrate them into the local economy and society continue. Among the displaced is Anna Koka, who came to Ireland in April, 2022. At home she worked in banking, but she is now the Ukrainian Employment Links Worker with Sligo LEADER Partnership.

In early October, a new EU-funded pilot project was launched in North Kildare, bringing together local communities, employers, and Ukrainian refugees. It is the only Irish project selected for this Europe-wide programme, which aims to explore practical approaches to refugee integration.

Gráinne O Neill, integration support co-ordinator with Carlow County Council, has highlighted the importance of food in bringing people together. Local authorities and community organisations around the country regularly host events to promote integration and she pointed to the success of Tullow’s Multi-Cultural Supper Club - held recently for new arrivals into the county.

Men, women and children desperately escaping the war in Ukraine have found a warm home-away-from home in Cloughaneely. Every week, Fáilte Isteach Falcarragh hosted by the local community centre, Pobail Le Chéile, attracts a multi-national group of volunteers to help these war-weary refugees improve their English-language skills under a project that promotes greater integration and a deeper sense of community spirit by forging new friendships and facilitating learning about different cultures.

When I was growing up, Eastern Europe was a mysterious entity reduced to caricatures from spy movies. My knowledge about Ukraine, before the Russian invasion, was limited to Chernobyl, soccer star Andrey Shevchenko, the Klitschko brothers (boxers) and the 2014 War. The fact that the country and its people were as eclectic as those in Western Europe was lost on many of us and it has been a pleasure to get to know Ukrainians, even though we should never have had the opportunity. Here are 12 things I have learned about Ukraine and its people since February, 2022.

Staff in Leitrim Volunteer Centre wrote to Changing Ireland to emphasise the importance of volunteering for integrating diverse newcomers into the community.

Exhibition remembers Ukrainian students who will never graduate, while Kerry hosts students sitting Ukrainian school-leavers' exams.