Tears of pride and sorrow as Ukrainians in Ireland mark year since Russian invasion

“One year, 365 days, 8,760 hours and 525,600 minutes,” read a hand drawn poster held by a Ukrainian refugee outside the GPO on Friday evening at a demonstration to mark the Russian invasion.

February 24th is a date that will live in infamy for Ukrainians. There were tears among the thousands who gathered outside the GPO to mark the first anniversary of the invasion. The venue was deliberately chosen as a reminder of Ireland’s own struggle to nationhood with the GPO in the centre of O’Connell Street, Charles Stuart Parnell at one end and Daniel O’Connell at the other.

This time last year you could fit the total number of Ukrainian residents living in Ireland into the space occupied by the crowd who turned up. Now there are 77,000 living around the country.

The crowd shouted “thank you Ireland” in between singing the Ukrainian national anthem and repeating chants of “Slava Ukraini”. Two of the biggest cheers were for two members of the Ukrainian armed forces. One, Maksym Horobets, is in Ireland for extensive facial reconstruction surgery. He was a staff captain in an engineering and demining company when he was hit by a shell in the first week of the war. He rallied the crowd in Ukrainian telling them the country’s armed forces will never bend or yield to Russian aggression.

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The Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Gerasko Larysa told the crowd that few people gave Ukraine any chance in the early stages of the war. “Some gave us a few days,” she said, “despite those sentiments, not only has Ukraine survived, but it has fought back against the enemy. Ukraine has demonstrated to the whole world our unity, bravery and resilience.”

She called for a moment’s silence and then continued by stating that nobody wanted peace more than Ukrainians, but not at any price and especially not if the price is the surrender of occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin described the Russian invasion as an “affront to humanity” and its armed forces behaviour in Ukraine as the actions of a “rogue state”.

He promised the Ukrainian people living in Ireland that they would have the continuing support of the Irish government. The Ukrainian army had been exercising “its solemn right to self-defence against Russian aggression in accordance with international law”.

Mr Martin added that Ireland is a militarily neutral country but it is not “politically or morally neutral” on the war in Ukraine “when Russia disregards all the basic principals of international law”.

All the main parties in the Dáil were represented at the rally. Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said her own Czech grandparents had fled Soviet brutality and she stood with the Ukrainian people. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he remembered the first fatality of the war, a border guard in Luhansk who was shot dead by Russian forces.

“I pray for his soul and for all the souls of those who have died in this unjust war.” He also echoed the comments of Parnell when he said that “no man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation”.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said it had been a long 12 months for the people of Ukraine. “We stand with Ukraine’s right to endure as a free and peaceful nation and today’s gathering today is a demonstration of our unwavering unity and solidarity with Ukraine as the invasion enters its second year,” she said.

The international community will remain with Ukraine “for however long it takes to face down Putin’s brutal invasion. There can be no victory for Russian military aggression over Ukrainian sovereignty,” she added.

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs and now chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan received one of the biggest cheers when he said that Russian athletes should be banned from next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

The rally ended with a round of applause for those who have been demonstrating outside the Russian embassy on Orwell Road for the last year.