THE IRISH RED Cross paid tribute today to the generosity of the Irish people for donating €42 million for the crisis in Ukraine and €1.6 million towards victims of the Creeslough tragedy.

The organisation also celebrated the fact that 10,000 Ukrainians have been accommodated in Irish homes, of which 6,200 are in Red Cross-Government pledged accommodation.

The Irish Red Cross said that ”its an extraordinary achievement and commitment from the people of Ireland” that 68,000 people from Ukraine and 14,100 people seeking protection have arrived in Ireland and been accommodated in a variety of accommodation.

€42 million has been donated to date by the Irish public and corporate community since the start of the Ukraine invasion in February 2022, of which is almost half has already been apportioned out to the various crisis areas surrounding and within the conflict zone.

The money is being used towards the needs and supports for Ukrainian migrants who have arrived into Ireland.

So far this year the Irish Red Cross has sent €17.2 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross.

These International bodies fund the Ukraine Red Cross and the Red Cross organisations in surrounding countries like Moldova, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to help deal with the crisis within the immediate conflict region.

In addition to this, the Irish Red Cross has also sent funding directly to the Red Cross societies in Ukraine and Poland of the order of €1m each and a further €200k for use in the provision of psychological first aid.

Irish Red Cross Secretary General Liam O’Dwyer said:

“The devastating reality is that the needs of people in Ukraine and those affected by the conflict are ongoing and constant. The response from the Irish public to the Ukraine crisis has been so very generous and there has been an unbelievable amount of support given so far.”

“It is clear that people just want to do as much as humanly possible to help the people of Ukraine and those impacted by this conflict. At the Irish Red Cross we have been busy working with our volunteer network and domestic and international partners to channel  resources to meet the needs of those displaced in Ukraine, neighbouring countries and other impacted countries such as Ireland and we will continue to do so,” he said.

Creeslough

Since the explosion in Creeslough the Irish Red Cross has collected €1.6 million through a national public appeal in collaboration with An Post and Applegreen.

To date €420,000 has been distributed locally from this fund via the volunteers of the Irish Red Cross.

The Irish Red Cross have met the community twice at public meetings where they have received feedback and suggestions around uses for the fund. 

To date, this money has been used for: 

• Staff and volunteer presence on the ground providing psychological first aid and empathetic listening
• Funding for those injured and their families to cover accommodation costs, loss of incomes, travel costs, medical costs not covered by the State, home assistance and minor home adaptations.
• Funding supports for families who have been bereaved to cover a wide variety of expenses including loss of income, household bills, travel costs, education costs etc.
• Those made homeless to receive payments to cover support of rental of new property, clothes, items for daily living, household bills, furnishings.

Ongoing liaising with community organisations has been taking place and an oversight committee has been set up to oversee future management of the fund.

The Creeslough community have also requested the ongoing presence of the Irish Red Cross in the village.