A group of Ukrainian women and children are desperately appealing with the powers that be to reverse their decision to move them from Laois to Cork.
Inna Denysenko and her two children have been staying in The Clock Inn in Mountmellick since May 2022.
They have settled into the community in Mountmellick with Inna gaining employment and her daughters attending school locally.
But they were left in a state of shock and upset on Thursday evening when an email from the Department Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth arrived.
As well as Inna and her children, there are 12 other Ukrainians living in The Clock Inn.
They were originally in tented accommodation in Stradbally but had moved to Mountmellick two weeks ago and now call it their home.
Speaking to LaoisToday, owner Aidan Deasy explained what happened.
He told how he originally signed a six month contract with the Department in May of last year but heard nothing from them after that until this email on Thursday.
He said: “I received news from DECDIY, the government department looking after the refugees, that they have made the decision to relocate all of my residents to the Quality Hotel in Youghal, Cork, next Monday at 12noon.
“Three of my residents, a mother and her two daughters, have been living here since May 2022 and have become established in the local area.
“The youngest girl is attending the school across the road from our premises, they are setup with local a doctor and dentist and have made friends in the local community.
“Inna their mother has just started working in my premises on a part time basis. The other 11 they moved in 2 weeks ago after being transferred from the tents in Stradbally.
“I have been trying to get DECDIY, with the help of Brian Stanley and Sean Fleming, to reverse this decision as it’s very distressing to all involved.
“This is an awful decision by DECDIY, these are traumatised human beings that have suffered awful atrocities in their home country and came to Ireland in search of refuge and a better safer life.
“We had a very emotional meeting on Thursday evening where i delivered this awful news and there were a lot of tears.
“These people deserve better, they are human beings not chess pieces at the end of the day.”
Speaking with the help of Yana Nesterova, who was a teacher in Ukraine before fleeing from Dnipro two weeks ago, Inna Denysenko pleaded with the authorities to reverse the decision.
She said: “We have rebuilt our lives in Mountmellick and I am very disappointed with this news.
“My children are happy to live here and go to school here. How can I build our lives if we continually have to move?
“Maybe the people who are in tents in Stradbally could move to Cork instead of us? They require help more than we do and we are really happy here.
“My youngest daughter has been crying ever since this happened because she has just made friends.
“All of our documents are here, people who have health problems are being looked after and set up with doctors.
“Everyone is so kind to us and has shown us such love. We really want to stay. We are now like one big family.”
Yana Nesterova spent two weeks in tented accommodation in Stradbally and she explained what that was like.
She said: “The wind, condensation – everything was wet and it was hard.
“I was there for a little more than two weeks when I arrived directly from Ukraine.
“But we just wanted to escape the war. We just wanted to move to a country where the sky was clear without rockets falling.
“So now that we arrived in Mountmellick, we have become a family in The Clock Inn.”
When contacted for comment by LaoisToday, the Department of Equality said that they ‘regret the upheaval’ but said ‘moves are necessary given the emergency nature of accommodation and the large numbers of people seeking accommodation’.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson on behalf of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says that he will contact Minister Roderick O’Gorman to see if a solution can be found.
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