Galway hosts lost in admiration for Ukrainian arrivals

A Barna family that has given safe refuge to a family from Ukraine has paid tribute to the resourcefulness of those fleeing the war which broke out over two months ago.

Michael Fitzgerald and his wife Jane welcomed one of the first families who arrived into Galway to their home last week – the family having spent the last number of weeks in Dunmore.

Svitlana, Olena and Nedzhdet arrived in Ireland in early March and since then, Olena has started school in Scoil Bhríde in Shantalla while Svitlana and Nedzhdet have secured work locally.

Their arrival here was facilitated by the Irish Georgian Chamber of Commerce which is based in Galway City, and since they landed, the organisation’s Head of Charity Tekla Gugeshashvili has been working to secure them a place to stay close to the city.

That’s where Michael came in, explaining that he has known Tekla for some time, and, having already registered with the Red Cross to provide a space for refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the dots joined up.

“Myself and Tekla were in conversation and I said Jane and I had signed up to the pledge online – Telka arrived with the family and introduced us so things moved quite quickly. The Red Cross is still at the vetting stage for a lot of their pledges, and that takes time.

“Jane and I were already Garda-vetted – I had it through the Teaching Council while Jane is a nurse in Galway Hospice, so she had it for work as well. That fast-tracked it,” says Michael who retired from teaching at Garbally College in Ballinasloe in 2019.

Michael says he and his wife were prompted to make their home available to refugees when they decided it was something they could do personally to assist with what is an unconscionable situation in Ukraine.

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