Mayo charity brings 91 Chernobyl children to Ireland

A small Co Mayo charity has brought more than 90 Ukrainian children living near Chernobyl to Ireland to escape the war following the Russian invasion. More than half of the children are unaccompanied minors.

The two-day journey, which concluded when the children landed in Dublin Airport on Tuesday morning, was organised by Castlebar-based charity Candle of Grace. The organisation has been supporting Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion began in February.

The charity's founder Lily Luzan, who was born in a part of Belarus affected by the fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster, said the organisation planned to support the children for at least an initial three-month period.

“If the war is over they will go back home, if the war is not over we will be asking for the Government to help us to look after them as long as needed,” she said.

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Ms Luzan said she had been concerned for the health of the children who lived in the area surrounding the nuclear plant. She feared shelling and other military activity from Russian forces had led to increased radiation levels.

In the early weeks of the war, the charity sent several vans of humanitarian aid, which Ms Luzan said was a “drop in the ocean” of what was needed. It has also been involved in placing Ukrainian refugees coming here with host families, she added.

On Tuesday, the charity flew 91 Ukrainian children to Dublin from Poland on a flight subsidised by Ryanair. While the parents of some of the children also made the journey, 59 were unaccompanied minors.

Ms Luzan said there was a long delay passing through immigration after the plane landed in Dublin, as the charity had not notified Tusla, the State’s child and family agency, of the arrival of the unaccompanied minors beforehand.

A spokeswoman for Tusla said its staff in the airport’s Ukraine crisis response centre responded “appropriately and as quickly as possible” following the arrival of the group.

Buses were arranged to take the families and children from Dublin to two Co Mayo hotels, after which they might be placed with host families, Ms Luzan said.

“We’re not paid money, volunteers (are) not going to be paid money, host families (are) not getting paid money, if you’re not doing this from the heart stay home,” she said.

The charity plans to hold events to help the children and families socialise and settle in Co Mayo, as well as running English language lessons.

Ms Luzan said the organisation was hoping to facilitate the travel to Ireland of a further 100 children she described as orphans.

“Everything has to be done properly…we need to have all the papers from the (Ukrainian) state that these children without parents are allowed to leave the country and come here,” she said.