Ukrainians in Killarney: ‘They’re more than welcome, but you have to have the services’

Killarney, Co Kerry, with a population of roughly 14,000 people, has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than any other town in Ireland since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine; 2,194 Ukrainians are now accommodated there, latest CSO figures indicate.

While locals and business owners largely speak positively of their arrival, stressing that Killarney threw its doors open to welcome Ukrainians, the tourist town has begun to feel the strain of accommodating such large numbers, as well as 1,000 asylum seekers from other countries.

For Karina Karpova, originally from Kharkiv in Ukraine, Killarney has become her family’s “new home”, but they are worried they may be forced to relocate in coming months. She has been accommodated in Killarney since April, but earlier this year, along with her husband and son Boris (15), she was given 48 hours’ notice to move to Co Mayo.

It made them “feel very bad” as they had started to build lives for themselves in the area.

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However, Karpova’s family were subsequently among the few who were allowed to remain in the town after some rooms became available in another hotel, where she is now also employed.

“After a year here now, I’ve found my first work in Killarney, and made friends. I work in the kitchen in the hotel, helping cook the breakfast for all the guests from 5am to 11am. Our chefs are very good, they teach me. But it’s hard because you must smile all the time,” she says, explaining that after two weeks on the job, her father died back in Ukraine.

Karpova’s father had some health problems and required an operation, which he was unable to get due to the war.

“The next day, I must go to work, [serving] nearly 2,000 people,” she says, explaining that she did not want to miss out on a day of pay.

Karpova’s husband has just found work in the construction industry, and the couple plan to “work very hard” to be able to afford to rent their own apartment soon.

“We are living all three of us in one room, my husband and my son. You can take it maybe a month, maybe two, maybe half of the year. But for one year…” she shakes her head.

“In Ukraine we had a big flat, in the middle of the city. We could go to another room and not see each other. Here, we can’t. I must sleep after the job but my son wants to take some lessons and to play, my husband wants to use the phone. All this in a very little square.”

Average monthly rent in Kerry in 2022 was €1,125 a month, according to the latest rental report by daft.ie, and in Killarney specifically, in one week in late April this year, there was just one property listed on the site to rent: a three-bed house for €1,800 a month.

“Right now, there is nothing in the town of Killarney to rent and there’s nothing in the pipeline for Kerry County Council to build houses. As far as I know, there’s 11 being built right now, and four are already sold,” Independent councillor Niall O’Callaghan said. “Anyone who has anything to rent has either gone the Ukrainian route or they’re not putting their properties on the market.”

Locals are left wondering where is the plan, O’Callaghan says, adding: “Modular housing isn’t a plan.

“I seriously worry about the mental health of some Ukrainians because hotel rooms aren’t designed for people to live in. If you’re there for 12 months… That’s tough.

“And for a town of this size, it’s a huge influx. Where is the plan for the small businesses to survive another summer of fewer people on the streets, after coming out of Covid and another tough year last year?”

Cafes and small shops in particular are struggling, O’Callaghan says, and “getting into a doctor has been so hard for anyone in the last 12 months”.

“They’re more than welcome and we love having them, but we have to coexist, you can’t just bring thousands of people and leave them in Killarney, you have to have the services.”

When 1,000 Ukrainians arrived, local GP Dr Gary Stack suggested the three GPs in his practice take on 50 Ukrainian patients each. “But then it kept increasing in the town. There are also more asylum seekers now as well who are being allocated to GPs around the town. That’s on top of 4,500 people already in Killarney. Services can’t cope.

“I had a patient recently who was quite depressed. I had to do about four consultations in one and asked him to come back in two weeks. He said he didn’t think he’d be here in two weeks. I’m also doing the out-of-hours service and it has become a problem there too.”

Karina Karpova agrees it has been difficult for her and her husband to get to see a GP when they’ve needed to in the past year.

And there are other issues beginning to emerge for Ukrainians in the town – a lack of proficiency in the English language is making it difficult for some to integrate and find jobs, or for children to settle into school and make friends, according to two Ukrainian women who spoke to The Irish Times.

The two women, who are both mothers, said they were encouraging their children to remain in Ukrainian classes remotely, as they hoped to return home some day when the war ends.

Ivan Smechenko (78), who arrived last March, is one of the Ukrainians who was due to be moved to Co Mayo earlier this year, but instead ended up in a different hotel in Killarney town.

With no family – his wife and son both died several years ago, and his daughter fled Ukraine to another part of Europe – other Ukrainians in the town, like Karpova, have become a lifeline.

Translating for Ivan, Karpova explains that Ivan “likes this country” though the language issue is “difficult for him because if he knew English he would be more free”.

“I study English by myself, and I try to remember some sentences to communicate. In general, I can understand people who are speaking English and they can understand what I say if it’s something I need,” he says.

With no job due to his age, and no way of accessing the materials or books he needs to continue his passion for electronics and radios, Ivan says he now spends his days “walking around Killarney, thinking about my life”.

Others with stronger skills in English have begun studying courses in local colleges and volunteering with local community groups though, like Karpova, several other Ukrainians speaking to The Irish Times worried they would soon be moved out of the town, especially as the tourist season approaches.

Hotelier Bernadette Randles is hopeful for the coming season, saying: “There are fewer rooms available for tourists but only three or four hotels are fully occupied by Ukrainians. There are 36 more hotels with their doors open.

“There are pressure points, but we have quite a good lot of accommodation still available if you know when you’re going and ring in advance.

“Smaller towns I think will suffer more,” she says.

*This article was amended on Thursday, May 4th, 2023. An earlier version of the article incorrectly stated that the International Hotel in Killarney town centre housed Ukrainian refugees