{"id":576196,"date":"2026-07-30T22:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T22:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/576196\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T22:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T22:20:14","slug":"i-dont-want-to-leave-vulnerable-ukrainians-protest-over-plans-for-relocation-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/576196\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t want to leave\u2019: Vulnerable Ukrainians protest over plans for relocation \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of Ukrainian children and vulnerable adults protested outside an EU conference on children\u2019s rights in Dublin on Thursday. <\/p>\n

Describing themselves as \u201cscared\u201d and \u201cfeeling very bad\u201d, about 20 protesters gathered to object to plans to remove them from their homes to locations further from schools, hospitals and GPs they say they depend on.<\/p>\n

They and several hundred Ukrainians<\/a>, living in the Republic as beneficiaries of temporary protection<\/a>, have been told they must leave their accommodation at Citywest, Dublin, by September 18th. <\/p>\n

Letters received in June and July said they would be moved to alternative accommodation in Kill or Punchestown, Co Kildare, Co Offaly, or Dundalk, Co Louth. <\/p>\n

They were told to apply for one of these by July 17th, but several at Thursday\u2019s protest <\/a>outside Dublin Castle said they had not applied as they do not want to leave Citywest. <\/p>\n

The Department of Justice has designated Citywest as the main reception and accommodation centre for newly arrived International Protection applicants. <\/p>\n

The protest took place outside Dublin Castle as senior EU officials <\/a>attended a two-day conference titled, Listening to Children and Young People \u2013 Challenges in Challenging Settings. <\/p>\n

Tannya Trofimova (29), who is blind, said she was \u201chappy\u201d and \u201cused to living\u201d in Citywest. She said she had mastered the layout and felt \u201csecure\u201d there with her son, 10-year-old Anton. <\/p>\n

\"TannyaTannya Trofimova, who is blind, with her son Anton (10). She said his sight is deteriorating
\nand he needs to be near medical services. Photograph: Alan Betson<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has friends at school. But his sight is deteriorating. He needs to have surgery and … We need to be close to his clinic.\u201d <\/p>\n

Anton said he was \u201chappy\u201d in his school, adding: \u201cI don\u2019t want to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viktoriia Danylevska (38), who is receiving chemotherapy treatment at the Mater hospital in Dublin, lives in Citywest <\/a>with her 69-year-old mother. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 1st we were told we have 70 days to apply to be moved to another location. Instead of us asylum seekers will stay in Citywest,\u201d she said, adding that she \u201ccannot understand\u201d the decision to move them. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it is very important to be in Dublin … We are feeling very bad about what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denys Hieniievskyi (25) is in a similar situation. He is living with an Irish host family. However, his hosts have told him they will need his bedroom in November to accommodate their daughter. <\/p>\n

\"AA protest near Dublin Castle in support of Ukrainians facing relocation from Citywest. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

He has been offered a move to one of the same four locations. <\/p>\n

He said he uses crutches as his joints are \u201cdamaged\u201d, cannot walk far and wants to stay near the hospital and GP he attends. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government says we do not need the ARP [accommodation recognition payment paid to host families] after March. I feel very scared, but I try to control it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is very hard. I cannot sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour Party Cllr Joanna Tuffy called on the department to \u201ctake a compassionate look again at these cases\u201d. She also called for disability and immigrant support groups to \u201ctake up these cases … These people need support.\u201d <\/p>\n

The department has been contacted for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of Ukrainian children and vulnerable adults protested outside an EU conference on children\u2019s rights in Dublin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,34148,60,43,9688],"class_list":["post-576196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-international-protection-office","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}