Vivienne Clarke
The Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Larysa Gerasko has said that while talks continue in the hope of finding a peaceful solution “we will never forget, and we will never forgive”.
Ms Gerasko told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that to date 6,000 refugees have arrived in Ireland and plans are under way to set up a Ukrainian community centre where people could come to meet up with other refugees and get information.
People had a lot of questions – how to get education for their children, how to get them into school and kindergarten, how to access a GP.
“It’s very difficult for them, some of them don’t have friends or relatives here. They don’t understand how the system in the country works.”
Ms Gerasko pointed out that many also did not speak English, so the Ukrainian community was trying to assist with translators.
Warm welcome
When asked how many Ukrainians she thought would come to Ireland, the ambassador said it was very difficult to predict, more would come, perhaps up to 80,000. But many Ukrainians did not realise that the visa requirement for Ireland had gone.
If Ukrainian media communicated that a visa was no longer needed for Ireland then “many thousands will arrive.”
Ms Gerasko thanked the Irish Government and the Irish people for such a warm welcome.
Her own parents remained in Ukraine and refused to leave their home to join her in Ireland. She said that she asked them every day to come to her.
Ms Gerasko said her mother finished every conversation saying “I hope we will be alive tomorrow”.
