'I'd be glad of the company': No response to 86-year-old's offer to house Ukrainian refugees 

Eddie Dunphy outside his Wicklow home. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

“I’m going to be here in the house on my own, the room is there, I would be glad of the company.”

It has been more than a month since 86-year-old Eddie Dunphy offered to share his Greystones home with a Ukrainian family, but he has yet to receive an official response.

After recovering from an illness recently, Mr Dunphy felt ready to take a family in, and in September he pledged his Wicklow home to accommodate Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.

“As far as I’m concerned, I will be quite happy as long as people would take me as they find me and maybe muck in and help around the house,” he said. 

“There are many people in this country who are living alone and would be very glad of some company and are quite willing to put somebody up. 

"I don’t think that’s really being tapped. It’s certainly not being emphasised.” 

As with many householders who pledged accommodation to help Ukrainian families, Mr Dunphy is frustrated that his offer has not been acted upon. 

Pressure on system

More than 50,000 Ukrainians have entered the State since March under the EU Temporary Protection Directive, and the pressure on accommodation is now so severe that some recent arrivals were told there is no place for them to sleep.

While most Ukrainians are housed in commercial accommodation such as hotels, 10,587 homes have been pledged by the public to those in need as of October 24. However, just 1,834 pledges have been ‘activated’ so far.

“I’ve been lucky in my life,” Mr Dunphy said. 

I’ve a nice house, I live in a nice area, it would be nice to be able to give something back.

A spokesperson for the Irish Red Cross said: "There’s not a great desire among [Ukrainians] to move [from hotels]” as many have formed small communities with all the necessary amenities provided or close by."