Cork’s first Ukrainian school launched

Anna Kushnir, volunteer Shtab Pivdnya, Brian Meagher, Cllr. Deirdre Ford, Lord Mayor of Cork, and Olexsandr,and Taras Kushnir at the launch of the Cork Ukraine School at City Hall, Cork. Picture: David Creedon

Cork’s first Ukrainian school has been officially launched by at a gathering in City Hall.

The first of its kind in Cork, the school aims to educate Ukrainian children in their language and culture and equally help them to speak English and learn about Irish culture.

Based at Cork Academy of Music on the northside of the city, the school opened for its first classes in November. Four teachers, three of whom flew in from Ukraine to participate in the project, teach children aged between five and 16.

Billy O’Callaghan of Cork Academy of Music said between 35-40 children attend the school on Sundays, with a mix of recent arrivals to Cork since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, and those who previously settled in Ireland and are looking to reconnect with their home culture.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland Gerasko Larysa attended the launch and spoke with a delegation involved in the school about the new project.

 Cllr. Deirdre Ford, Lord Mayor of Cork with Lyudmyla Vysotska, Duty Principal Ukraine School, at the launch of the Cork Ukraine School at City Hall, Cork.

Duty principal of the school, Lyudmyla Vysotska said she hopes to expand the school amid increasing applications from prospective students. She appealed for Ukrainians who are interested in teaching and others who can teach English.

Ms Vysotska said she had “high hopes” that Ukrainian will be on the Leaving Cert in the future. While the school will not replace mainstream education, the hope is that it will supplement the system by giving young Ukrainians or people of Ukrainian descent an opportunity to learn about their homeland and their new surroundings in Ireland.

Lord Mayor Deirdre Ford said: “We can never really know the horror (of the war in Ukraine) but we can help Ukrainians as they direct us”.

She pledged to support the school as it develops in the coming months.

The school is supported by the Academy of Music, City Council and Cork Educational Training Board.

Anna Kushnir, a representative of Ukrainian volunteers, spoke about how the community in Cork has banded together to send 80 trucks to Ukraine since the war began — stocked full of warm clothes, food, beds and generators. Ms Kushnir’s team has also sent 15 jeeps to Ukraine.

Ukrainian solider Alexander, who was part of the delegation, is undergoing treatment in Cork University Hospital for injuries he sustained while fighting in the war.

Also in attendance was Brian Meaghar from Co Meath who recently returned from Ukraine where he fought as an international volunteer. Mr Meagher was shot in the arm near Kharkiv and is being treated in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.