Cork rallies for Ukraine

A Leeside truck driver has described driving across Europe to the Ukrainian border as an “easy decision” as Cork continues to help those fleeing the Russian invasion.

After seeing what was unfolding on the continent, John Murphy and fellow truckers Henry Quinn, Shane Hallahan and Shane Dennehy, rounded up over 30 tonnes of aid and headed for Rosslare in two articulated lorries.

The lorries were mostly filled with clothes, sleeping bags, blankets, medical supplies, tinned food and pallets of water.

“We were watching what was going on and the next thing, we see the trucks being loaded and getting ready to leave with aid.

“We got talking about it one Thursday, and by the Friday afternoon, we had it in our head that if we could round up an extra two loads of aid, that we'd head over ourselves. Over the space of 24 hours, it changed from talking about it, to going,” John told the Cork Independent.

He added: “It was an easy decision just to do our bit for it. We had the trucks, there was plenty of donations coming in. Trying to get the stuff out there seemed to be the biggest issue.”

After 24 hours at sea, they touched down in Dunkirk and headed east, passing through Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, before entering Poland where they continued to a distribution centre close to the Ukranian border.

“There was a lot of military equipment going down to the border when we were driving through Poland.

“We saw the busses coming up the road with the curtains closed and you'd just know something was going on,” said John.

John said he and his colleagues would do another aid run “without a doubt” if needed.

Initiatives across Cork

The Lough Scout Group in Cork city is welcoming any children who have recently arrived in Cork from Ukraine to come and become a member.

The group has waived all registration and membership fees for the children in order to make scouting as accessible and welcoming as possible.

Scout leader Aoife Rigney said: “We are delighted to announce that we are opening our doors to any children (and parents) who have recently arrived in Cork from Ukraine and would like to make new friends and have some fun, despite the difficult circumstances they find themselves in.”

Children and their families are invited to attend the Lough Scouts Easter Family Fun Day this Saturday from 2-6pm, and Sunday from 10am to 2pm in the grounds of the Lough Church.

Meanwhile, as part of the national response to the Ukrainian crisis, Cork County Council’s Community Support Programme is coordinating a community-led response to provide assistance and support to Ukrainian refugees as they are accommodated around Cork county.

The Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Gillian Coughlan said: “The main aim of the Community Support Programme is to bring together all relevant public, private and community and voluntary stakeholders acting locally in order to ensure that Ukrainians arriving into our communities can access the relevant services and supports that they need, including local health, education, social and other integration needs.”

In coordinating this community-led response, Cork County Council has established 19 local community support hubs that will provide practical on the ground assistance throughout the county.

The council has also set up a dedicated email address, communityforum@corkcoco.ie, and contact number, 021-4386637 for members of the public who may have any queries. Accommodation requirements for Ukrainian refugees are provided by the International Protection Accommodation Service who can be contacted by email at ipasinbox@equality.gov.ie.

GoFundMe campaigns

Over the past month, numerous GoFundMe campaigns have been established by members of the Cork public to assist those fleeing the Ukraine.

Former soldier and private security professional Padraig O’Keeffe is raising funds to travel to Ukraine with his highly trained urban search and rescue dog (USAR) Cooper.

An update posted on the campaign page this week read: “28 days until departure and it’s full on with our preparations. Cooper is in great shape and continuing with his professional development in USAR.

“We also started a month long stabilisation, control and movement course with Rory Hennebry at Munster K9. The course is designed towards working under stress while maintaining solid communication between dog and handler. Considering the environment we will be working in, the skills we will learn from Rory will be a huge benefit to us.”

In Buttevant, where approximately 60 Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed into the community, a GoFundMe campaign has raised over €9,000 to pay for supplies and for personal items that “afford dignity and humanity”.

All funds raised will be used for these supplies with any surplus to the Red Cross appeal.