Emma Lane-Spollen: Ireland is at a crossroads as the Ukraine war rages on
Damaged residential buildings following a missile attack in Lviv, Ukraine. Picture: Yuriy Dyachshyn/AFP via Getty Images
“May you live in extraordinary times.”
It’s only now that I truly understand this old Chinese curse.
For the 80,000 Ukrainians who have made Ireland their home, these are extraordinary — and deeply uncertain — times.
The shock of war in February 2022 was immediate and terrifying, yet Russia’s aggression was known. What is harder to comprehend is the US turning its back on Ukraine, reneging on security guarantees made in 1994 when Ukraine, with the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, committed to neutrality and nuclear non-proliferation.
If Ukraine is forced into an unjust peace, can we be sure that the rest of Europe won’t be next?
While we in Ireland have limited capacity to influence the machinations of US foreign policy, we can ensure we do not turn our backs on Ukraine.
Everyone wants peace.
But for Ukrainians and Europeans, peace must be just and lasting — otherwise, it will never be safe to return.
Until that day comes, Ireland and Europe must move from temporary solutions to a long-term strategy.
This is not just about solidarity, it is in our interests.
When war broke out in February 2022, Europe responded swiftly and intelligently.
The temporary protection directive — never before activated — gave millions of displaced Ukrainians the same legal rights as European citizens, thus avoiding overwhelming Europe’s asylum systems and protecting them from human traffickers and exploitation.
Thousands of women and children arrived in Dublin and Rosslare, knowing little about Ireland other than it was the furthest point in Europe from Russia.
What they found was something remarkable: Irish families opening their homes and welcoming them into their communities, demonstrating the best of our values.
Some 26,101 Irish households took people in.
Today, 36,000 Ukrainians are accommodated this way, with nearly 60% living within their hosts’ own homes.
This is an Irish success story, one that has aided integration, reduced pressure on the housing market, and saved the Government millions in emergency accommodation costs.
But goodwill is not a policy. Hosting is not a long-term solution, and yet, right now, it is all we have.
Ireland’s achilles heel is housing.
Our long-standing housing crisis has dictated refugee policy from the outset.
With no serious plan to develop a pipeline of medium-term, transitional accommodation, the Government instead leaned on emergency measures: Hotels, B&Bs, and host families.
What was meant to be a stopgap has now stretched into years.
Of the 114,324 Ukrainians who have come to Ireland, a third have left. Of the 80,000 who remain, 52% of those of working age (20-60) are employed, and 17,420 children are in school. The majority living precariously, stuck in limbo.
Since April 2022, we have called for coordinated leadership and an accommodation plan.
Instead, successive governments have pursued piecemeal temporary measures, ignoring the inevitable crisis.
This is a failure of governance, one that risks social cohesion.
The consequences are stark.
Every month up to 2,000 Ukrainians are relocated, shuffled across the country with little notice.
The disruption is immense: Jobs are lost, children pulled from schools, GP access lost, friendships severed, even pets forced to be given up.
Relocations also put strain on school principals, on health and social services, on local authorities, voluntary groups, and businesses who suddenly lose their staff.
It upends the ability of people to stand on their own feet.
Yet, none of these immense costs are taken into account.
This policy of instability runs counter to Ireland’s long-term interests.
The psychological toll is profound.
We know that childhood trauma lasts a lifetime, yet we are allowing thousands of young people to experience repeated displacement.
These policy decisions are choices — and their consequences will be felt for generations.
Three years into this war, Ireland stands at a crossroads.
Despite the Ukrainian community’s efforts to integrate and make a life here — learning English, working hard, paying taxes — the Government has left key decisions hanging.
The uncertainty surrounding the extension of the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme is just one example.
ARP was introduced to support hosts and keep Ukrainians out of the private rental market.
It successfully brought accommodation onstream that was never previously available to rent.
It has become the key accommodation support as the Government winds down private provider contracts.
While never meant as a long-term solution, it is currently all we have.
The emergency response showed the best of us, but without a structured long-term plan, public goodwill is eroding.
People are rightly concerned about housing, but misplaced blame won’t solve that crisis.
The evidence simply doesn’t support the claim that Ukrainians are driving rental shortages.
Nationally, those households receiving the ARP make up less than 5% of the total private rental market; in Sligo for example it’s 8% (4,428 private rental households — 370 host properties) whereas the county’s housing stock has 4,023 vacant properties and 801 AirBnBs.
Thousands of hosts opened their homes in the first year of this crisis, long before financial support was introduced.
They stepped up to help, not to profit.
Surveys by Helping Irish Hosts show that 73% of hosts say the €800 ARP is essential to continuing the response.
In a rational world, the Government would prioritise supporting and encouraging hosting, rather than jeopardising the only accommodation safety net we have.
So we must ask — what is the plan?
It is staggering that the largest migration issue in the history of the State was omitted entirely from the programme for government.
This seems to suggest our Government hopes the issue will quietly resolve itself. Hope is not a policy.
The war is entering an even more dangerous phase, with Russian president Vladimir Putin emboldened and and fuelling fear and division at a time when we need to stand together.
Some seek to scapegoat refugees for Ireland’s problems, we must challenge this.
Refugees, from Ukraine or elsewhere, are not our enemy.
They are not the reason for our lack of housing or health services.
The root causes lie in systemic failures — poor planning for population growth, decades of under-investment in housing, and political short-termism.
Ireland has stood proudly on the world stage in defence of Ukraine and basic human rights.
If we truly believe in justice, dignity, and human rights, we must apply these principles at home.
The Government must lay out a road map for the next year.
A planned transition from temporary protection to resident, that gives clarity and security.
A new generation of Ukrainians are growing up here.
We in Ireland cannot bring about a just peace but we can continue to support the resilience and courage of these brave people for as long as it lasts.
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