The number of people who have already fled Ukraine is the equivalent of every woman and child in this country – and Ireland will take in its fair share.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, the Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said there is no way of knowing how many people Ireland will have to take in.
He said that, while Ireland is facing a “big, big ask”, it is no different to what is being asked of every other country in the EU.
Also speaking on his way into Cabinet the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said around 20,000 people will have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine by the end of the month.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar arriving at Cabinet, 22-03-2022. Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews“First of all, the number of people who have currently fled from Ukraine into the EU is the equivalent of every woman and child in Ireland. That’s what we are talking about here – between 3.5 and four million people.
“The expectation now is that that number could increase significantly further. Every country in the European Union is planning for that and Ireland is no different.
“So, the question is not whether we can accommodate X number of people, it is how we will accommodate them.”
Ukraine
Noting that there is now “brutality and war at the heart of Europe”, Minister Coveney said Ireland will play its part like other countries will.
He said the two million people that Poland has already taken in is “unimaginable”, noting that EU foreign ministers yesterday agreed that the country could not be asked to shoulder the burden on its own.
“I was in Warsaw last week,” he said. “In the largest refugee hub in Poland. There were 7,000 refugees there, mainly women and families with some older people as well.
“They are simply desperate. With nothing except one bag in most cases. In some case maybe a pet or a dog to try to keep their sanity and they need solidarity.
“We will be giving it to them in Ireland.”
Generosity
He said the Irish people have already offered up an “extraordinary outpouring of generosity” and the vetting process for people who have offered to take people into their homes will get underway in the coming days.
“What wouldn’t be acceptable for me is for Ireland to say we can only do so much and no more and then leave the burden there for other European countries to respond to,” he said.
“That’s not what the EU is about. It is about the opposite of that. It is about solidarity, collective responsibility and responding even to enormous challenges like this one together and Ireland will be very much part of that.”
More than 20,000 have offered accommodation to people arriving in Ireland through the Red Cross portal and officials are also working with hotels, B&Bs and other bodies to source emergency accommodation.
