{"id":661188,"date":"2026-10-21T07:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T07:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/661188\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T07:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T07:34:13","slug":"we-are-abandoned-ukrainian-family-with-permission-to-stay-but-nowhere-to-go-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/661188\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We are abandoned\u2019: Ukrainian family with permission to stay but nowhere to go \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fiona Dunne, who has hosted a Ukrainian woman and her daughters in Co Laois<\/a> for almost four years, feels \u201ccompletely let down\u201d by the Government.<\/p>\n

Her guest, Anna Polyshchuk, feels \u201cabandoned\u201d with supports for members of her community, including the monthly \u20ac400 Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) to hosts like Dunne, being wound down<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Introduced in July 2022, just months after Russia invaded Ukraine<\/a>, the ARP was initially paid at a monthly rate of \u20ac800. This was reduced to \u20ac600 in June 2025 and to \u20ac400 last month. The payment is due to be terminated next March. <\/p>\n

There were 16,300 people hosting 38,300 Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection as of October 11th, according to the Department of Justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polyshchuk arrived in Ireland via Moldova, Poland and Germany on March 31st, 2022, having reluctantly left Ukraine with her mother (now 72) and daughters (now 13 and 19). They initially stayed in Citywest, Dublin before being moved to a hotel in Abbeyleix. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very difficult all living in just one room, especially for my mother, but we were safe and very grateful. My children started in school,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Polyshchuk got work as a kitchen porter in the hotel. \u201cI was looking all the time for a house to rent, but couldn\u2019t find any house. I abandoned the search. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome local people knew my situation and they looked for a house too. One day in November, I came home and there was message on my phone. It was Fiona. \u2018I know you are looking for a house. I think I can help you.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes. Fiona was a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FionaFiona Dunne (left) and Anna Polyshchuk in Abbeyleix, Co Laois. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

A neighbour, whose mother was involved in the local effort to welcome Ukrainians fleeing the war, asked Dunne if she would host a family. She was contacted by the Irish Red Cross (IRC), which co-ordinates pledges of accommodation for Ukrainians, and added her name to its list. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was apprehensive to be honest. I didn\u2019t want any long-term tenants. I thought Anna would find another house to rent quickly enough,\u201d adds Dunne, who is \u201csemi-retired\u201d and tends to \u201ccome and go a bit\u201d. <\/p>\n

Dunne\u2019s home has a self-contained section with its own kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms, which represented a big \u201cimprovement\u201d for Polyshchuk and her family after living in a hotel. It also meant they could remain in a community to which they had developed links.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The children] could stay in the schools and I can keep my job,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Unable to use her master\u2019s degree in linguistics, Polyshchuk now has an entry-level administration job with an energy company in Portlaoise. <\/p>\n

Dunne receives the ARP directly, describing it as \u201cuseful\u201d, while Polyshchuk pays her family\u2019s share of bills and towards the upkeep of the house. <\/p>\n

The women have become close friends but had not anticipated sharing a home for four years. <\/p>\n

\u201cI never expected the war to be so long,\u201d says Polyshchuk. <\/p>\n

After a year in Dunne\u2019s home, she began looking for accommodation for her family. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am 50 now. I was looking for a mortgage but at my age and salary and the only person working in the family, I cannot get enough to buy anything,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am not eligible for social housing or any housing support because of my status. The rents are very high and there is nothing to rent in Abbeyleix, completely nothing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn Portlaoise, we looked online, there are only five houses to rent. And surrounding [the town] there are 11. The prices are high and also the landlords wouldn\u2019t consider me. They don\u2019t want to accommodate someone without a renting history. To be honest I am lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HousesHouses destroyed following a Russian missile attack in Odesa, Ukraine in August. Photograph: Ukrainian Emergency Service\/AP <\/p>\n

In the coming months Dunne will need the space in her home back for her own family. Polyshchuk fears for her children\u2019s safety if they were to return to their home city Odesa. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am concerned. The war in Ukraine is getting only worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunne feels a responsibility to Polyshchuk and her children, but cannot continue housing them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel we have been left on our own. You step up, you do something good. Hosting has been [a] very good model for integration,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd integration is the key. If immigrants can\u2019t integrate, it just becomes a lightning rod for anti-immigration sentiment. <\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment policy now is sabotaging integration.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked what she will do, Polyshchuk says: \u201cI do not have a solution. The temporary protection status is extended to 2028 because the war is still going on. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have the permission to stay but we do not have possibility to rent or to have accommodation … we are abandoned. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost all Ukrainian people in subsidised accommodation, they are women with kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the IRC said it would like to see the ARP scheme \u201cremaining in place for as long as the temporary protection directive\u201d continues. <\/p>\n

\"UkrainianUkrainian mother Anna Polyshchuk (left), who has been living with Fiona Dunne for four years. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ending of the ARP is likely to lead to a significant reduction in the number of pledges of accommodation received by the Irish Red Cross.\u201d <\/p>\n

A Department of Justice spokesman said hosts \u201ccan continue to have private arrangements with individuals\u201d following the termination of the ARP scheme. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in receipt of temporary protection can also avail of private rented accommodation either through their own means or with the assistance of rent supplement, a means-tested payment administered by the Department of Social Protection,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fiona Dunne, who has hosted a Ukrainian woman and her daughters in Co Laois for almost four years,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,8285,43,3589,9688],"class_list":["post-661188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-laois","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661188","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=661188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}