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”.

That was after it emerged that 144 Ukrainians living in West Cork had received letters from the Department of Integration telling them they are to be relocated before the end of August with many still not knowing where they are being sent.

They include 70 refugees living in Ardnagashel, Bantry, and 37 each in Rosscarbery Convent and Scartagh House, Clonakilty.

A number of others across Co Kerry have also received similar letters including those living in Ballinskelligs, Milltown, Derrynane, and Cahirciveen.

"These families have settled in communities; they have jobs; their children are integrated in schools and have strong friendship networks," said Ms Cairns.

"The war in Ukraine is not over. If anything, it is intensifying. 

These families endured huge trauma during their escape from a brutal war and local communities, all across West Cork and Kerry, have made extraordinary efforts to welcome them and help them integrate.

“Now, all of that time and effort is being obliterated by a cruel bureaucratic calculus that has scant regard for the lives, happiness and wellbeing of these people.”

However, the Department of Integration defended its actions saying it was reducing the number of contracts for Ukrainians receiving temporary protection for a number of reasons, “including a decrease in numbers needing accommodation, compliance concerns, value for money and greater oversight of the portfolio”.

It said every effort is made when moving people to keep them as local as possible but this was not always possible given the number of moves that are taking place:  

The department appreciates that this is not easy for people and that moving location can be very disruptive, but at all times the department was clear that State-funded accommodation is temporary and subject to change. 

Meanwhile, less than two weeks into Ukraine’s cross-border operation into Russia, the incursion has managed to destroy a key bridge in Russia’s Kursk region and strike a second one nearby, disrupting Russian supply routes and possibly signalling that its troops are planning to dig in.

Kyiv has been tight-lipped about the planned scope and goals of its lightning push into Russia, the largest attack on the country since the Second World War, which took the Kremlin by surprise and saw scores of villages and hundreds of prisoners fall into Ukrainian hands.

Ukraine’s commander in chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, claimed last week his forces had advanced across 390 square miles of the Kursk region.