Ukrainian community centre to open in Dublin to help refugees ‘integrate into society’

A community centre for Ukrainian refugees is to open in Dublin to help those displaced by the war to “integrate into society”.

The Irish Red Cross previously had a temporary centre in a warehouse connected to Vicar Street, Dublin, which they used for three months during the summer. However, the facility was not suitable in the longer term as it could not be heated and was very noisy.

The charity has now secured a facility at Atlas Language School, Rathmines, for the next 15 months at least. Two staff will be employed as well as volunteers. It will cost about €200,000 for the duration and is being funded by public donations.

The facility, which is to officially open on October 31st, will host IT classes, dance classes and provide emotional supports to those who have arrived into the country following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February.

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Olha Khoroshevska, a volunteer with Ukrainian Action in Ireland, and who will manage the centre, said it will help those displaced by the war to find a community.

“They will be able to study English, to find psychological help, to have art therapy or art classes, or even just to find a safe place,” she said.

“They will learn how to write a cover letter, how to set up their LinkedIn, how it works in Ireland. Just to know how to make their first steps into integrating here. People feel very lost and it’s very important to them to create this community, to get answers to their questions.”

The temporary service was “very popular”, Ms Khoroshevska said, with about 70 people visiting on weekdays and about 100 per day at the weekends.

The classes and services are run through a collaboration with organisations including Fastrack into Information Technology (FIT) and Roddy Doyle’s Fighting Words.

Danielle Barr, training and employment services manager at FIT, said 440 Ukrainians have undertaken English language classes with the organisation and just under 15 per cent are now in employment.

“Classes are oversubscribed. There were over 25 in each class, and we have eight classes a week. The first day we had space for 25 and 100 people showed up. A lot of the people we met are highly skilled, they just don’t have English as their first language,” she said.

“We’re also doing an apprenticeship in tech for Ukrainians. We have 32 people already signed up for it; we’re trying to get more companies on board.”

Charlie Lamson, head of fundraising at the Irish Red Cross, said the pilot centre in Vicar Street went “really well” over the summer and they are now using that best practice for a longer-term situation.

“In the winter, the newness of it [their arrival] will have worn off, the weather gets cold, public attention will have moved on, that’s going to be a really difficult time for the 50,000+ Ukrainians,” he said. “What they need in order to get on track is learning the language and getting a job. The focus for us is getting a path to that.”