Daniel McConnell: Very fabric of Irish social cohesion to be tested like never before

The reality of the challenge of accepting into Ireland many thousands of Ukrainian people has not yet dawned

A man walks on the debris of a burning house, destroyed after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In the initial aftermath of the invasion, the national sense of outrage was palpable here. Picture: Felipe Dana/AP

"This is the biggest one, by a country mile.”

That was the stark admission from a senior civil servant the other day as to the scale of the challenge of accepting into Ireland many thousands of Ukrainian people, fleeing the war in their homeland.