AS we reach the second anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war, Ireland needs to take time to reflect on how our support made a significant and positive difference in people’s lives.
In total, Ireland has taken in approximately 100,000 refugees. It hasn’t always been easy, or without controversy, but what we accomplished was truly amazing.
For example, while the U.S had provided significant military aid until recently, best estimates are that on a per capita basis Ireland has helped 17 refugees for every refugee America helped .
The Cork-based story of Hanna Hordynska and her family is not only inspirational, but shows the depth of Ireland’s support.
Widely reported in the Irish press, Hanna’s 10-day journey to Ireland, eventually landing in Cork, was harrowing. It took Hanna, her sister and husband, as well as her niece, through Romania and Poland in planes, trains, and cars, in addition to some unique sleeping arrangements, before arriving in Dublin.
I met Hanna when she gave a presentation to our Cork MeetUp group - MeetUp of Minds. This group discusses current events, sometimes provocative, as well as political topics.
In January, 2023, we held a debate on Ukraine - discussing to what degree Ireland should continue supporting Ukraine. Hanna was a presenter maintaining that we should continue that support. (I’m not sure that anybody there that day seriously questioned Ireland’s support, but it’s a discussion group that elicits unique opinions and encourages us to expand our minds and viewpoints.)
Afterwards, Hanna and I maintained contact. As I learned more about her family’s situation, I was fascinated. I was amazed the degree to which people, in this case her family, could adapt to a truly difficult situation.
Initially, Hanna’s parents were reluctant to leave Ukraine. However, they were living in Berdiansk - a city that quickly came under Russian occupation.
Eventually, Hanna was able to convince her folks to join her in Cork. They left and now live in local government supplied housing.
Once here, they began to adapt to their new country. Shortly after arriving, Hanna’s father, Volodymyr Hordynskyi, began working full-time for the Irish company - OML Ventilation Ltd. Her sister’s husband, Artem Bessrab, also started working for an Irish company as an electrician.
On the other hand, Hanna’s sister, Tetiana Bessarab, continued to work for a Ukrainian company, but remotely.
Hanna’ 16-year old niece, Yeseniia Bessarab, has been attending an Irish school the last few years and just began her first job working weekends at a café in Cork city.
Unlike the rest of her family, who lived in the now occupied areas, Hanna had been living in Kyiv where she was working as an investment analyst prior to the conflict.
Upon arriving in Ireland, she enrolled in the Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Postgraduate Degree program at Technological University Dublin, where she graduated with distinction.
While she was in Cork during 2022, earlier in 2023 she returned to Kyiv to resume her life and support her boyfriend.
Hanna’s career has continued to change as the year has progressed. She has always had a passion for art and painting and has long wanted to open her own gallery. Fate is pushing her in that direction. Recently, she has created paintings that were sold in London, with the proceeds donated to the Ukrainian military.
Hanna’s family remaining here in Cork would love to take the next step in their Irish journey, moving from government-supplied housing into their own rental house. However, they are running into the same housing issues as so many other Irish families. But they remain optimistic that they will eventually get lucky and soon enough will have a place to call their own.
War always changes people. Where you live may change. Where you work may change. What you may do in your career may change. The people in your lives will almost certainly change.
It’s fate, that invisible force that operates in mysterious ways, which ushers us in directions never desired or anticipated.
While their lives may be initially torn apart, humans are amazingly resilient - and adaptable. They learn to live in new surroundings, even if takes some adjustment. They learn new words in unfamiliar languages. They form new friendships, sometimes even finding love along the way. They start working - and contributing - in their new land.
Two years ago, Hanna’s family could never have anticipated all the changes that they would ultimately face. But while they have endured much, Hanna and her family have shown the resiliency of the human spirt. They adapted, persevered and even grew as people.
Ireland, in general, and Cork, in particular, needs to pat itself on the back for how it has positively changed not only Hanna’s family, but all the refugees we helped.
It wasn’t always easy, or without controversy, but we clearly did the right thing.
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Cork has welcomed the third highest number of Ukrainians in Ireland More in this section
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