When I first arrived at Dublin Airport four years ago, I was handed a small slip of paper. It had three words on it that changed my life: Inisfallen Hotel, Killarney

At that moment, I had no idea where Killarney was. I sat in the old terminal with my children, surrounded by other refugees, googling photos of lakes and national parks. I kept wondering how my life had shifted so dramatically, from a career and a settled life in Kyiv to a point on a map I couldn't even pronounce yet.

Today, Killarney isn’t just a point on a map to me. It’s rather home.

We didn't choose to be refugees; an aggressor state made that choice for us. We didn’t plan to start from scratch in our 30s, 40s, or 50s. Since we are here, we want to be part of the solution.
We now make up 5% of Killarney, one in every twenty people. We are your coworkers, teammates, and friends. We’ve retrained, we’re learning the language, and our kids are already speaking English and Irish.

I’ve retrained as a community worker, and I even found the courage to run in the local elections because I believe in the democracy you are lucky to have. You are one of the few countries in Europe that gives migrants the right to participate and vote in local elections.

I’ve had the privilege of working with the Killarney Advertiser, who, by the way, were the first in Ireland to publish texts in Ukrainian so that newcomers could understand what matters to this community. It was here that I wrote my first articles in English.

During the last for years I feel Killarney is my second home. I’ve learned the shortcuts to avoid the evening traffic jams.

A LOCAL
I know my neighbours by name, and we’ve made it a tradition together for a drink before Christmas. I’ve picked up that local habit of lifting a finger over the steering wheel to greet a passing driver or a pedestrian.

I feel that same sting of rising prices at the checkout as you do, and I felt that massive surge of local pride when the Kerry GAA team brought The Sam back to the county.

But behind the smiles and the "I’m grand" responses you hear from us at work, in sports clubs, or the streets, there is a heavy reality we carry every day.

For many of us living beside you, there is no home to go back to. Our cities are ruins; our houses are gone. Behind the woman serving your coffee or the man on the construction site is a story of a son, a father, or a brother missing in action or killed. My own parents are in occupied territory. My biggest fear is that if the worst happens, I won't be able to go to them. I won't even be able to stand at their funeral.

The relatives of the people you work with may be freezing in their homes right now without heating, electricity, and water at -20 degrees.

My daughter is freezing in Kyiv too. When she has electricity for a few hours a day, and we have a video call, I see her wearing a down jacket and a hat at home. She has been sick with a cold for a month.

NO END IN SIGHT

Let me remind that February 24 we marked four years since the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine. That’s about how long it took to fight most of World War II, yet for us, there’s no end in sight.

To put the scale of this into perspective for my friends here in Kerry: Russia currently occupies over 20% of Ukraine. That’s an area 1.3 times the size of the entire island of Ireland. The frontline stretches for 1,200km, four times the distance from Killarney to Dublin.

When we talk about 15,000 civilians killed, we’re talking about the entire population of Killarney being wiped out. When we hear that 3,200 children have been killed or injured, we’re talking about 128 empty primary school classrooms.

Throughout this time, Ukraine has received a lot of help from the world, but it has been enough only to survive, not to win.

We all need a long-lasting, just peace, because this is a war of values, democracy versus tyranny. This war is not only about Ukraine; it is about the future of all of Europe. Ireland cannot remain silent, as the threat of war is already at its borders. Neutrality is not the same as naivety. While Russian submarines regularly violate Ireland’s territorial waters, drones appear in the sky, and Russia wages a hybrid war by fuelling trolls on social media to sow anti-migrant and anti-Ukrainian sentiments, one can no longer afford to be naive.

This war concerns Ireland, Europe, and the whole world. It’s particularly painful to know that Irish-made components from Galway or Waterford have been found in the Russian’s "kamikaze" drones hitting civilians in Ukraine.

EU PRESIDENCY
As Ireland prepares for the Presidency of the Council of the EU in July 2026, you have a voice. Please, ask your TDs and MEPs to keep up the pressure. Demand tougher sanctions, the use of frozen assets to rebuild our homes and the energy system, and real action against the "shadow fleet" that funds this war. Only together can we stop this before it goes further than Ukraine.
Please remember: everything you do for Ukraine, you do for all of Europe and for yourselves. Thank you for standing with us.