Ukrainian refugees in Ireland - Megathread

At the start of this conflict I, like a lot of people in Ireland, rushed out and bought supplies to donate to a local group bringing much needed stuff over to Ukraine. I donated online as well. As it's gone on I look around me and I don't like what I see. Where I live we have a few hundred Ukrainians in the town. They've just been moved out of a hotel and into a building of what was offices, but which has been turned into accommodation for 150 people so far. The building is huge, in a shopping centre area and owned by the guy who owns the shopping centre. I haven't found any planning applications for that, I've looked. Everything in the place is brand new, a very expensive catering company delivers there 3 times a day for breakfast lunch and dinner. The guy who owns the building and the catering company are making out like bandits from it, oh, there was no tender for the catering either.

I've seen far more young men than old, it looks like fathers and grandfathers stayed behind and sons came to Ireland. I don't mind helping some Ukrainian refugees, but what's being given to them is hurting our own people. Asylum is meant to be basic support, not full Social Welfare payments, Medical Cards, 3rd level education, Child Benefit, Single parent benefit etc. There's no bottomless pit of money for this, make no mistake the money for this is going to come out of other budgets. When Irish people with medical cards find that their cards don't get renewed, for no reason, or that they are given a GP visit card instead then it's too late, they will have to appeal and fight to get it back, all while knowing they're being handed out to everyone who claims to be Ukrainian, as soon as they arrive here. We have huge waiting lists for hospitals and housing, we all know that Ukrainians won't be put on waiting lists, they will be skipped to the top of the list.

This isn't about government wanting to help Ukrainians, I really don't think they care. It's about politicians knowing they won't be reelected so they're building a CV that will appeal to the powers that be in Brussels for when the gig here is up. This has already made a lot of people very angry. People can say what they like online, but when you speak to people in the real world the anger is there, they've been sold a pup and they know it. I don't think anyone blames the Ukrainians for taking advantage of what's on offer. They come from a corrupt poor country with little prospects and the Irish government has thrown open our doors and offered them more for not working than they'd earn by working at home. There's a lot of glossing over the reality of Ukraine, it's the mail order bride and surrogate baby capital of the world. It's utterly corrupt and that will be brought here. As for Kyiv, it's ridiculous, it's like the new base camp at Everest. Anyone who is anyone is making their way there for a photo op with Zelensky.

I'm talking about men in their 20's and upwards, not children. Of course there will be young men with medical problems or who are the sole parent, who will have exemptions and that is fair enough. But we have to look at the ethics of giving men who ran away all the same social welfare entitlements as Irish people. Those men are never going home, there will be no warm welcome for men who abandoned their country during a war. Men who stayed to fight will despise them and Ukrainian women won't want a partner that other Ukrainians will see as a coward. It's easy to judge from a distance but it is what it is. There was a lot of outpouring of support in my town when the first refugees arrived, people were keen to make them feel welcome, but people have seen what's going on and that support just isn't there anymore. People aren't volunteering now.

I think it was made very clear from the beginning by our Michael Martin and others in government that it was at the expense of the person making the pledge and that there would be NO financial support from government to those offering accommodation. It only became a thing after the UK had to offer money to the public to accommodate refugees. People here started complaining that they hadn't realised it would be and demanding financial support for it.

You can highlight it, won’t make it any more true. Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th Feb. Martial law and a ban on males leaving was brought in in the same day.