As they think of loved ones in their war-ravaged homeland, two Ukrainian families have expressed their gratitude for the warm welcome they have received in Clonaslee. They are part of a community of 56 Ukrainians in the village.
“Unfortunately I can’t be with all my family this Christmas but in this village – Clonaslee – and county – Laois – there are very kind people who organised celebrations for us. It’s really very pleasant for us,” said Olena Tsyhanok who is from Kyiv – Bila Tserkva city – in Ukraine.
“In Ireland, I am with my daughter who is ten years old, and my parents,” Olena said.
“We now live in the village of Clonaslee. Eva attends school here and she has a lot of new friends. I have met many people and made lots of new friends too.
“I have been working in a travel agency in Tullamore for six months. The directors are interested in my experience in building a company, automation and marketing because In Ukraine I was the owner of a travel agency. I have three offices.
“In my 14 years of experience, I have visited more than 30 countries. Also, I was a TV presenter on a travel channel. I did a lot of video in different countries as well as live TV at the studio. I’m happy that my experience can be useful here,” she told LaoisToday.
“Now I am focused on working with social media and marketing. In November at a tourist conference and awarding of the best travel agencies, our company was the winner for ‘best use of social media,’ ” said Olena.
“In Ukraine, my team attended various awards every year for top ten travel agencies. Now, when it’s all ‘out of time,’ I again felt emotions that I had forgotten about.
“For me, this is not just recognition of my work. It is my inside victory that in a short period of time I can get this result in another country, with a different language, a different mentality, my not perfect English, a different tourist product and everything else. For me, this is my inside victory and recognition that ‘I can.’
“In Ukraine every year I have different training about business, marketing, new destinations, sales, YouTube etc, because I always think about how I can do my work better. And now I’m so grateful to Ireland that I can study tourism and business in college and improve my level,” Olena said.
“Also, I am so glad that I have a chance to come back to the video and was acting in Oskars, a fundraising GAA event for Clonaslee-St Manman’s.
“All these activities help me not think all time about war because you can go crazy. Every day it’s like I’m on a rollercoaster, especially now before Christmas. You see Christmas decor, lights, dresses, gifts, so many happy and smiling people and for that time I also smile and rise up.
“But when I thought that today in Ukraine there were more bombs, how many people and children died, how many people without any light today, I couldn’t be happy and go down,” said Olena.
“I am so grateful to Irish people for supporting Ukrainian people. I know sometimes it’s not easy but it is so important for us.
“We will celebrate two Christmases: December 24 and January 6. The last few years in Ukraine we also celebrated two Christmases. For me it’s not about different religions, because God is one,’ said Olena.
“I hope next year we can celebrate Christmas at home in Ukraine with our family and invite our Irish friends.
“Christmas in Ukraine is a family holiday. Usually we meet all the family, including parents, brother, sister and grandparents. For Christmas Eve we cook 12 dishes.
“Boys and girls prepare special carols and go from house to house entertaining their neighbours in exchange for sweet gifts and money. It’s believed that the more carol singers that come to the house, the more prosperous the householders will be. I saw something similar in Ireland at Halloween when children went to houses trick or treating. At Christmas in Ukraine, kids dress in national clothes,” said Olena.
For Valaria Sirotopova from Odessa, Christmas is her favourite time of the year. “Of course this year’s celebration is not so happy but we are putting a brave face on it for our children. In general we always feel sadness in our hearts because we are far from home. We will try to combine both traditions this year,” she said.
“I have my husband, my son and my mom with me and I’m working in a local primary school. My son is a junior infant.
“Adjusting to a new country is always hard but I’m so lucky to be in Clonaslee, where the local community support Ukrainians so much,” said Valaria who helped with the organisation of a Christmas concert in the local primary school.
Clonaslee locals were proactive when Ukrainian families started to arrive in the village.
Lucy Feighery established a co-ordinator group to assist when the Ukrainian families began to arrive in early April. Local man, Val Rowney, renovated his unused guesthouse and also gave the Ukrainians the use of two houses.
Lucy said the response from the local community to the arrival of the Ukrainian families had been incredible. “People welcomed the Ukrainian community into Clonaslee and a response group was set up.
“A WhatsApp group including Ukrainian members was established. The community is always available when help and advice is needed,” Lucy said.
“Local groups and schools donated funds to help out our new residents. Public transport for them was extremely limited and the community came together to ensure they got where they needed to go, providing numerous lifts into and out of town for grocery shopping, appointments, school, camps, train and trips into the Intreo office.
“Any items they were short of or needed they received such as laptops, extra blankets, rain gear etc. The community organised bicycles for the Ukrainian community,” said Lucy.
“The local community also contacted the primary schools and got places secured. The community ensured that all students in both primary and secondary schools had uniforms, lunchboxes, bags etc. All were donated.
“Members of the local community were appointed as school liaison officers. The community also helped to source employment for the Ukrainian community and provided lifts to and from interviews and then to and from work,” Lucy said.
“Local schools were excellent. There was never any hesitation to welcome the new students. They made the new students feel most welcome and provided them with books, tracksuits etc. Local community members welcomed Ukrainians into their homes for social gatherings.
“Doctors and nurses in the Health Centre are also most accommodating and were from the beginning. Fr O’Reilly was most welcoming too, facilitating food donations and inviting the Ukrainian families to sing their anthem at Mass,” said Lucy.
“Locals have provided employment. Ukrainians are now actively involved in the community through work, school, sport and drama. The Ukrainian community is extremely thankful for all that the people of Clonaslee has done and continues to do for them.”
Fáilte Isteach, which was nominated for a prize at the Laois community volunteer awards for social inclusion recently, is supported by Aga Wypychowska from Laois Partnership in facilitating English conversation classes once a week in Clonaslee.
Meanwhile, Laois-Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) runs English classes twice a week. Mags McLoughlin, the co-ordinator of the Fáilte Isteach English conversation classes, said the Ukrainians are becoming more fluent and confident when speaking English.
“A special event was held for Independence Day when the co-ordinator and Fáilte Isteach groups organised a celebration along with the Ukrainian community members with food, fun and laughter as well as tears as we as a community embraced some Ukrainian culture,” said Mags.
Laois Arts Officer, Muireann Ni Chonaill, told us about art classes which will start in the New Year for adults, children and young people. The bus responded to the extra people in town and increased the service from Birr. Some people have jobs. They enjoy the facilities Clonaslee has to offer including badminton and basketball for the ladies. People are integrating well,” she added.
On December 11 the Fáilte Isteach tutors planned and celebrated Christmas an end of term with a coffee morning, with Santa making a surprise visit.
“It is very important for our community to support all of its members through the celebration season,” Mags said.
SEE ALSO – Check out a selection of stories from the LaoisToday Archive collection here
