From war-torn Ukraine to bartending in Killarney

Refugees escaping war begin rebuilding their lives in Ireland

Patrick Courtney of the Killarney Oaks pictured with Ukrainian nationals from left, Chef Nataliia Hancheva, Svitlana Shostak, Diana Kotsillynska, Valeriia Mashkouska and Veronia Oliinykova who have started work in the Hotel having arrived in Killarney only one week ago. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Diana Zhuravlova is Killarney Oaks Hotel’s newest bartender, having landed in Ireland just over a week ago after fleeing her war-torn home country Ukraine.

Ms Zhuravlova is one of six Ukrainian refugees that have been offered jobs by the hotel in Kerry, while she stays at the Innisfallen Hotel in Fossa.

They are among the more than 21,000 refugees from the country who have already arrived in Ireland as the State scrambles to supply them with the required accommodation and services.

Ms Zhuravlova is from a seaside town near Odessa. She came to Ireland with her mother and her sister. Her father, however, was forced to stay behind under martial law to help bolster the resistance to the Russian army.

The three women travelled to Warsaw from Ukraine and then got a bus to Berlin, where they stayed in a refugee centre. However, the plan was always to try and get to France. When they eventually reached Strasbourg, the city was not equipped to house refugees.

Patrick Courtney with Diana Zhuravlova, who comes from a seaside town near Odessa and fled Ukraine with her mother and sister. Picture: Don MacMonagle

“We wanted to move to France but when we came to Strasbourg, no one was there. No refugee centre, no nothing,” she told the Irish Examiner. They decided to go to Paris to get more information, but they ended up meeting Ms Zhuravlova’s aunt, who bought them plane tickets to Ireland.

She said there had been positive support since their arrival as they attempt to rebuild their lives. “When we came to Ireland, businesses like the Killarney Oaks proposed us with jobs,” she said.

“Every man and woman that I’ve met have been very kind. The people of Killarney have been trying to help us wherever they can,” she added.

Patrick Courtney, manager at Killarney Oaks Hotel, said offering employment to the six refugees was the least they could do. "We, like everyone, are appalled at what is happening in the Ukraine. It's easy to feel helpless during these catastrophic events and felt we wanted to help in any way we could," he said.

"It's wonderful to see each of the Ukrainian refugees settling into it so well. We try and do everything we can for them, it’s a very small thing given that they have all had to leave their lives and loved ones behind."

While currently working as a bartender, Ms Zhuravlova's long term ambition is to become a screenwriter, and the 28-year-old has almost finished her first fantasy book as well. “I want to do something with scripts but I need to practise my English and go to college,” she said.

Ms Zhuravlova is hoping to move to Cork soon where she can pursue these aspirations, as she and her family have decided they will not return to Ukraine even when the war is over.

“For now we have nothing there, we have no money to buy something. We spent it to flee. And now we decided that when the war is over we will get a new life here [in Ireland] if it’s possible,” she said.