Department defends 'cruel' plan to move Ukrainian refugees from West Cork and Kerry

Ukrainian refugees in centres including Clonakilty, Rosscarbery, Derrynane, and Cahirciveen have been informed they are to be relocated this month — with many still not knowing where they are being sent

The former Mercy Convent in Rosscarbery, one of the centres sheltering refugees from the war in Ukraine. File picture

The Government has defended moving hundreds of Ukrainian refugees from the communities where they have been living, saying it had always been clear the homes were temporary and subject to change.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said the actions of the Government in “uprooting people integrated in local communities at short notice with no clarity about their ultimate destination is cruel and counterproductive”.