Efforts to support Ukrainian refugees in Galway have been highlighted by Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív.
The Fianna Fáil TD heaped praise on the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) delivered by Galway Rural Development, which works to train and settle those who have arrived in the county.
He thanked the team at Galway Rural Development and the other agencies which have displayed ‘resilience and flexibility as we collectively seek to support those who have arrived’.
Deputy Ó Cuív said that it is of paramount importance that Ireland has been a strong supporter and friend of Ukraine and assisting Ukrainians to adapt and integrate.
CEO of GRD Steve Dolan thanked the communities and community leaders who have been so supportive of the efforts to support the Ukrainians.
“Across the county, from Clifden to Kiltormer and from Tuam down to Gort, Galwegians have been wonderful at coordinating local efforts and being generous with their time, training, and employment provided,” said Dolan.
“It should also be borne in mind that the vast majority of Ukrainian adults here are female so we’ve also targeted supports there.
“And recently, for Ukrainians who want to set up their own enterprise, we’ve just provided information sessions with Éamon Ó Cuív who has been terrific with his time and in giving one-to-one support”.
Dr Anne Cassidy, Senior Manager of SICAP said: “At our end, in terms of getting the arrivals ‘work ready’, we’ve provided Ukrainian-specific Safe-Pass courses – both through English, and Ukrainian with the assistance of a translator – which were open to people across the county and we will continue to target these courses to get Ukrainians job-ready.
“We have also continued to gather the names of those interested in other courses, notwithstanding the challenges of the movement of people throughout the county.
“We have also delivered manual handling, fire safety, and HAACP courses for Ukrainians with interpreters and we plan to roll out First Aid courses which are also often a job requirement.”
The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) is delivered across Ireland by community-led Local Development Companies’, funded through the Department of Rural and Community Development and co-funded from the European Social Fund.
