STAFFING RESOURCES need to be provided to assist community groups in welcoming Ukrainian refugees to the county, a West Clare representative has emphasised.
Lisdoonvarna and Kilkee were the first places in Clare to welcome refugees displaced from the war which has been ongoing in Ukraine for the past seven weeks. At least 40,000 people have died, 400 are missing while 11m have been displaced according to reports. More Clare communities have opened their doors to the refugees including Shannon, Ennis, Kilbaha and Liscannor since then.
From the outset, Kilkee based Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) has called for mechanisms to be put in place to have a co-ordinated approach for community groups catering to their newest residents.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, he called for staffing resources to be considered for these voluntary groups. He supported the emergency motion from Cllr Mary Howard (FG) to establish a depot, “this is not a short-term issue, this will be with us for the next twelve to twenty four months, maybe more”.
He informed his colleagues that he requested Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys (FG) to raise the matter amongst the Cabinet. “There are hundreds and thousands of euros of public money being given to hoteliers to provide accommodation and I get it but it is not realistic to ask for some sort of funding to ask for staffing resources”.
Community facilities could also be brought back into use, he noted. A small portion of the creche in Kilkee has reopened for childcare facilities, he said, “the rest of the building would be ideal. A building is sitting there and is ready to open the door but the biggest issue is staffing. We’ve costed it out and all that it needs is a person and a half to get this open, we cannot rely on volunteers to operate it in the long-term”.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman (GP) told The Clare Echo that such proposals are being considered. “I got a letter today from national organisations in terms of looking at that. It is something we will look at, all elements of our response are under review, I don’t have anything to announce right now, one of the purposes of this visit is to hear from people and that will allow us better shape our response”.
