National communications campaign needed on register for those homing Ukrainians – Cannon

A national Government public information campaign on the Irish Red Cross (IRC) pledge register is required immediately to advise the public how they can open their homes and accommodation to Ukrainians fleeing war, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Ciaran Cannon, who opened up his Galway home to Afghan refugees last year, said he has been inundated by families across Ireland looking to offer accommodation to Ukrainian people fleeing Putin’s terror.

Deputy Cannon said, “Following my call last week for the establishment of a registration portal for those interested in sheltering Ukrainian people, I’m delighted that the Red Cross have launched a platform to allow people register accommodation and other services.

“However, a lot of people are still confused as to how the portal works, and how best they can help the people of Ukraine arriving on our shores.

“Hundreds of Ukrainians are coming into Dublin airport every day now, mostly women and children who have little more than the clothes on their backs. Many do not know anyone else in this country and desperately need all of the support the Irish public can offer.

“Whether we are meeting Ukrainians in airports or on the streets of our towns, we need to greet them with open arms. As a country with a long history of forced emigration, we have an understanding of arriving onto foreign shores and the trauma and fear that comes with it.

“Irish people up and down the country are more than willing to open their hearts and their homes to those fleeing war, and we must ensure the information on how to do this is easily and readily available.

“The Government must now roll out a public information campaign on the IRC portal on the same scale and urgency as the Covid-19 communications. We need to see full page ads in national and local newspapers, as well as communications across tv and radio. We also need to see QR codes included on all Government communications.

“If people are ready to open up their homes, we need to make the process easy as possible for everyone involved,” Deputy Cannon said.