Couple who offered to house Ukrainian refugees hit out at 'higgledy-piggledy' organisation

Tony and Sheila Kenny with Ukrainian refugees, Katya Shelepova and her daughter Alisa Maneichyk, who are staying with them after the Kennys turned to Helping Irish Hosts, a voluntary organisation made up of hosts and Ukrainians that matches families outside of the State system. Picture: Alf Harvey

A couple who offered to house Ukrainian refugees say a “lack of communication” and “higgledy-piggledy” organisation by their local authority caused them to walk away from the State-run scheme

Tony and Sheila Kenny say they waited weeks for a phone call after first pledging their home to share in March. 

Then various staff members of Laois County Council staff and the Irish Red Cross rang them multiple times asking the same questions about their family and property.

“At this stage we were actually considering taking our name off the list,” Ms Kennny said.

For a brief period, the Kennys housed a Ukrainian woman and her 10-year-old son, but they said the whole process was far from straightforward and little assistance was offered.

“They literally dropped her at the driveway,” Ms Kenny said. She said the Ukrainian woman was seriously ill at the time and in need of treatment.

While she had the mother and son living with her, the Irish Red Cross rang Ms Kenny twice asking her to host a family – an experience cited by many to the Irish Examiner.

After the mother and son left in May for medical treatment in the US, Laois County Council asked if the Kennys would “take a little break” from hosting for a month, Ms Kenny said.

“They said, ‘Look, they’re (refugees) not on the side of the street, a lot are in hotels and are not interested to move out’,” Ms Kenny recalled. 

It seemed like it was too much work, it was just easier to leave them in the hotel. 

“I got the impression they weren’t really pushed.” 

The Kennys have not received any further communication from the council. Ms Kenny said the process was “unbelievably stressful”, “all very disconnected” and made her feel “totally deflated”.

“We were watching the news morning, noon and night and saying, ‘What the hell is going on?’. It’s shocking.”  Ms Kenny said another family member pulled out from pledging their accommodation after never being contacted by a State agency.

Tony and Sheila Kenny say the 'lack of communication' and 'higgledy-piggledy' organisation by their local authority caused them to walk away from the State-run scheme. Picture: Alf Harvey

Laois County Council did not respond to a request for comment from the Irish Examiner.

The Kennys then turned to Helping Irish Hosts, a voluntary organisation made up of hosts and Ukrainians that matches families outside of the State system. They now share their home with a Ukrainian mother and daughter, Katya Shelepova and her daughter Alisa Maneichyk.

“I actually have a lady at the end of the phone that will answer any questions,” Ms Kenny said. 

“It’s just nice to know they’re there… It’s not ‘Press one for this and press two for that’, Helping Irish Hosts are always there… Even down to putting Ukrainian Netflix on the television, they’re so helpful.” 

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Homeowners who pledged accommodation through the State system aren’t getting the support they need, according to Angie Gough, chief executive and founder of Helping Irish Hosts.

She said her charity, which is comprised of a network of more than 520 people, is filling the gaps where local authorities and non-governmental organisations fall short. 

“Without them,” Ms Kenny said, “I probably wouldn’t be hosting right now.” 

Local authorities are understaffing refugee match-making, says Red Cross

Local authorities have failed to provide the requested staffing levels to match Ukrainian refugees with homeowners pledging accommodation.

Most local authorities tasked with matching homeowners with Ukrainian families are providing fewer staff than the Irish Red Cross recommends.

Irish Red Cross general secretary Liam O’Dwyer has said he is disappointed with the “slow” progress of local authorities in matching homeowners with Ukrainian families.

Mr O’Dwyer said “a minimum of four people” should be working in each local authority on housing refugees, but figures released by the councils show that a majority are understaffing the process.

While counties such as Waterford, which employs eight staff, have led the pack with one-third of homeowner pledges ‘activated’, other local authorities, such as Roscommon, have trailed behind with one full-time and two part-time staff allocated, activating just 7% of pledges.

Based on figures released to the Irish Examiner by the Department of Integration on October 24, local authorities acting independently — or without significant assistance from non-governmental organisations — have matched comparatively fewer families.

Tony and Sheila Kenny said the process was 'unbelievably stressful', 'all very disconnected' and made her feel 'totally deflated'. Picture: Alf Harvey

Local authorities acting primarily independently have matched 15% of pledges received from homeowner while councils assisted by the Peter McVerry Trust and the International Organisation for Migration have matched 16% and 19% respectively. 

The International Organisation for Migration is assisting many counties with large urban areas which may account for the higher success rates.

Clare County Council, which is closely working with Mid-West Simon Community, has matched 22 pledges out of more than 350 offers.

Cork County Council received the most pledges by far, but just a fraction of Ukrainians were rehomed. 

A total of 81 out of 1,194 pledges reviewed by the council were activated.

A spokesperson for the Irish Red Cross said it helps all councils with the matchmaking process when requested by local authorities, but it is “spread very thin” across the country. 

The spokesperson said: “There’s not a great desire among Ukrainians to move from hotels as many have formed small communities with all the necessary amenities and transport provided or close by, and in some rural areas it would not be fair to move people there."

In a statement to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson for the Department of Integration said, “every effort is being made to activate suitable pledge offers and necessary vetting and inspection procedures are completed”.

In response to queries about staffing from International Organisation for Migration and Peter McVerry Trust, the spokesperson said it was “unable to provide” this information but said these staff are “not deployed in a fixed manner, and their location changes in relation to the work that needs to be carried out at each locality”.

For more information on Helping Irish Hosts, visit helpingirishhosts.com