By Dionne Meehan
A UKRAINIAN family living in Ramelton are fearing for their future after they received an eviction notice last week.
This comes after up to 80 Ukrainian refugees living in the heritage town were asked to vacate their accommodation by December 11.
As the Department of Equality and Integration continue to end contracts with smaller accommodation providers throughout the county, Cllr Declan Meehan said this latest stunt is the government’s way of encouraging refugees to go home.
But this is not an option for Vitalii Pshenychnyi and his family.
Vitalii Pshenychnyi with his wife Kateryna, son Andrii and daughter Anna, a Ukrainian family who settled in Ramelton but received notice to vacate their accommodation last week. Photo Brian Mc Daid.
Losing their home in Ukraine as a result of an explosion, Vitalii spoke of the difficult living conditions they endured before moving to Ireland.
“It was very difficult to be constantly under rockets and living under the sound of sirens,” he said.
“I was very afraid for my kids and when we arrived to Ireland we felt safe.”
An image of Vitalii’s hometown in Ukraine.
Vitalii and his family moved to Donegal last September after fleeing their war-torn country.
Finding refuge in Ramelton, it wasn’t long until they began calling it home.
At the beginning, Viutalii’s 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter found it hard to mix with local children.
But now, they have settled in at local schools and are planning their futures.
Within Vitalii’s first year of living in Ireland, he successfully set up his own domestic cleaning business.
However, he now fears for the future of his newly established business following last week’s news.
“We bought a lot of equipment,” he said.
“We don’t know where we will be living so this is a big problem for us.
“If we get moved to a hotel, I will have to close my business due to the lack of storage for my equipment.”
Vitalii said he feels frustrated ahead of the eviction.
“I am really disappointed to learn that there is an opinion that the authorities do not want us to take root here,” he said.
“When we arrived, all our actions were related to becoming a part of the community.”
From attending English lessons so they could converse with the local community to helping coach the local football team, the family have gone above and beyond to fit in.
Vitalii also stressed his concern at the possibility of his children having to be taken out of school in the middle of the school year.
He is also saddened his children may have to move schools if they have to relocate outside Ramelton.
“My son is a teenager and last year was very hard for him because unfortunately he found it hard to make a connection with the Irish kids,” he said.
“But now, he has friends, he has a job and he has some plans for the future.
“It is going to be very hard to change and start all over again.”
The Pshenychnyi family are now appealing to the public for help in locating a house or apartment in Ramelton, Milford, Kilmacrennan or Letterkenny.
Photo caption
Related posts:
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)