‘It’s hard not to be touched by the stories’: Corkman houses two Ukrainian families in mother's home

The families who had fled the Kyiv area are now settling into their new life in the Gaeltacht village of Baile Mhúirne

'The stories and the scenes coming out of Ukraine shocked me — how human beings could impose such cruelty on others.' Picture: AP

“It’s hard not to be touched by some of the stuff that you see in the media,” said Derry Dineen. “The stories and the scenes coming out of Ukraine shocked me — how human beings could impose such cruelty on others.”

The Cork man’s response to seeing the horrors of the Russian invasion channelled daily via newspapers and internet was, like that of many Irish people, to try and help some of those arriving here from Ukraine.

With his mother a long-term hospital resident and her home in Baile Mhúirne lying vacant, Mr Dineen realised he was in a position to offer accommodation and added his name to those pledging housing via the Irish Red Cross website.

“My mother’s house has been vacant for some time and was ideal, because I had made some renovations a few years back,” he said.

Contact was made through a Ukrainian woman who has lived locally for several years and, in recent weeks, two families who had fled the Kyiv area arrived by bus in the Gaeltacht village.

Since coming to Ireland, the two women and their children had been housed along with many other refugees in an accommodation centre in Co Clare and were relieved to reach the security of their new home following a long and sometimes dangerous journey from Ukraine.

“They landed in Clare first and they were in a sports facility,” said Mr Dineen.

“I think the urgency of it — they had arrived in Ireland and they were really scared of staying in an open space — they didn’t feel safe in one giant dormitory.”

He said one of the women and her eldest daughter speak some English and the younger woman was able to tell him “how they had so much difficulty getting out of Kyiv and getting a lift, over whatever bridges were available for traffic”.

“They went down into Romania and then from Spain to Ireland,” said Mr Dineen, adding that on arrival in Baile Mhúirne, the families were “very quiet and reserved”.

There’s no surprise in that, coming to a strange country, but three days later, once they’d had time to settle down, I went down to check that everything was OK and they seemed to be much more comfortable in their surroundings.”

The two mothers have been friends since childhood and, added Mr Dineen “my guess is that the spouses of the two ladies are possibly in the Ukrainian army”.

Five of the six children of the two families are of school age and are currently receiving remote schooling online. Mr Dineen said he had not yet investigated the possibility of them enrolling at local schools in the Gaeltacht area but added: “It’s something I have to maybe help them out with. The kids don’t have any English and certainly don’t have Irish.”

With issues such as healthcare provision currently being addressed, “it’s early stages,” said Mr Dineen, but “I believe they’re settling in nicely”.

He said it was “fabulous” to be able to accommodate the families. “I was delighted when I found out [they were coming] and if they’re happy to stay here, they’re welcome.”