Ukraine: Irish Red Cross hails 'amazing support' for refugees

An online register set up to offer help to Ukrainian refugees in the Republic of Ireland has had an "amazing" public response, the Irish Red Cross has said.

The organisation opened its register of pledges last Friday, which aims to centralise offers from the public such as accommodation, goods or services.

By Tuesday afternoon, more than 6,100 pledges of support had been registered.

Figures show more than 2,100 Ukrainians have arrived via Dublin Airport since the Russian invasion began.

However, the number of Ukrainians arriving via other Irish ports is not routinely recorded at present.

Pledges can range from offering a spare room in a family home to clothing, furniture or even language classes.

"The response and generosity of the Irish people has been so amazing," an Irish Red Cross spokesman told BBC News NI.

He explained there was a "huge rush" to register on Monday night when the service was first publicised on the TV news, which caused the website to crash.

However, it was a temporary outage and the online portal was back up and running on Tuesday morning.

It is not possible yet to tell how many people who joined the register have offered to open up their own homes to shelter refugees.

The aim of the online portal is to match public offers of help to refugees who are in need of particular items or services.

It is not the first time the humanitarian organisation has set up such a register - it operated a similar service in recent years to Syrian refugees to find accommodation and support in the Republic of Ireland.

However, it took several months for the earlier appeal to reach 1,000 pledges, while more than 6,100 pledges were made for Ukrainian refugees in the first four and half days of operation.

The announcement of a "centralised pledge register" for Ukrainian refugees was made on Monday by Roderic O'Gorman, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

"Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Irish people have been eager to assist the humanitarian efforts in any way they can," he said.

"They have been particularly generous in donating funds and supplies and have expressed a desire to offer accommodation to refugees fleeing the conflict."

Mr O'Gorman confirmed his department was providing funding for the register, which is being managed by the Irish Red Cross at the government's request.

People who can offer a spare room, or a vacant property like a holiday home, can register their contact details and a description of the accommodation on the website.

They will then be contacted by staff from Co-operative Housing Ireland to assess the facilities and match it to refugees in need of shelter.

"The more information you can give us about your property and the surrounding amenities, the better we can choose people who will be suited to it, whilst ensuring they have access to requisite services and amenities in the locality," the website explains.

It also states the Irish Red Cross is seeking a commitment of a "minimum of 12 months" from property owners who offer accommodation.

The homes need to have cooking facilities, access to a bathroom and be located within easy reach of public transport.

The pledges can be made on a charitable basis, where a year's accommodation is offered free of charge, but there is also a possibility of owners requesting a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

The Irish Red Cross is also seeking practical assistance from the public to make refugees feel welcome and help them settle into the Republic of Ireland.

It suggested this could range from providing language classes, IT training or even just the offer of friendship.

Skilled tradespeople are also invited to offer DIY support such as help with plumbing and electrics in temporary accommodation.

Russia launched full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and the following day, Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee removed visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens travelling to Ireland.

Since the visa rule was lifted on 25 February, staff at the Border Management Unit in Dublin Airport have been "manually recording the number of Ukrainian nationals entering the Republic of Ireland," according to the Department of Justice.

Its spokeswoman provided a breakdown of the arrivals by date, through Dublin Airport only:

The Irish minister for children told Irish broadcaster RTÉ about two-thirds of Ukrainians who have arrived so far were being housed with family members.

"We are right now looking at sourcing hotel accommodation and we've significantly expanded our capacity of hotel accommodation for short term" Mr O'Gorman added.

Announcing the new register, the minister also asked people to give the authorities time to work through the pledges.

"Although all offers of accommodation are hugely welcome, it's important that people are aware that not all offers may be called upon in the immediate term," he added.

"In thanking people for coming forward, I would also ask for patience as we scale up what will be an enormous logistical response."