Cork to commemorate Chernobyl nuclear disaster

The ceremony will take place on April 26 at Bishop Lucey Park

'During a test at 1:21am in the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, the No 4 reactor exploded and released 30 to 40 times the radioactivity of both atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.' File picture: AP/Efrem Lukatsky

A ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will take place in Cork city later this month.

The ceremony, organised by the Greater Chernobyl Cause, will take place at 12 noon at Bishop Lucey Park on April 26, to commemorate the disaster which took place on April 26, 1986.

Fiona Corcoran of the Greater Chernobyl Cause said: “During a test at 1:21am in the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, the No 4 reactor exploded and released 30 to 40 times the radioactivity of both atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No one can predict what will finally be the exact number of human victims of the Chernobyl disaster.” 

She pointed out that this year’s commemoration will take place against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, following the Russian invasion in February.

She said the war was causing enormous suffering. 

“As the humanitarian situation in Ukraine deteriorates, we are desperately trying to get aid to those who need it most. We have worked in Ukraine for more than 25 years, assisting the poor, ill and desperate, funding the construction of orphanages, care centres and hospices for those abandoned and forgotten. 

Many of those we help have now had to flee from the Russian onslaught. We do not know if they have survived.” 

She said Ukrainian people would be honoured at the commemoration event through music, poetry and prayer.

Children from Goggins Hill National School will sing the Ukrainian national anthem, ”in solidarity with those Ukrainian children, who up until seven weeks ago, had homes, security and normal lives”, Ms Corcoran said.

She added the “empathy and love of the Irish will be evident as we stand with Ukraine in their time of need”.

She said everyone was welcome at the event to show their support to the people of Ukraine.