Turning first to this week’s Munster Express, where Robert Forrest reports about a newly released documentary which reveals the story of three Ukrainian women who sought refuge in Dunmore East…
Robert is writing about ‘Nova Address Dunmore’, a 20-minute documentary produced by Dunmore East-based film maker Conor O’Nolan, which was co-produced by Olesya Kholostenko.
Conor and his wife Judy opened their home to another Ukrainian woman, Valentina, and her daughter in November 2022. And having listened to his guests, “Conor decided that there was a story to be told about women with their children coming to a small village in winter and adapting to (their) new circumstances”.
The documentary aims to highlight the stories of three Ukrainian women – Halina, Yuliia and Ruslana – while highlighting how “the generosity of homeowners in Dunmore East has provided stability for their families, many of whom will eventually build new lives for their children in Ireland”.
To give listeners a sample of what it took to get from Ukraine to Waterford, Halina’s story alone underlines something which maybe those of us unaffected by the ongoing land war on our continent have been paying less and less attention to the deeper we get into this conflict.
On the first day of the war – February 24th of last year – one of Halina’s three daughters was in her university dormitory when its windows were blown in during the first missile attacks.
Halina told the documentary makers: “We left the house, we didn’t take anything with us. We understood that the road would be difficult, so it was pointless to take suitcases with us. We took documents and necessary things with us, even more for the children than for ourselves.”
Halina had a sister already living in Waterford, who urged her to come to Ireland with her three daughters and granddaughter.
Yuliia describes seeing Dunmore for the first time, having driven across Europe and feeling love at first sight. In Ruslana’s case, having travelled to Ireland via Poland, she tells the documentary about how moved she was by Ireland’s beauty. She said: “We are still here, and we will live. We are like ‘Wow’. “My daughter says to me I want to live here. I like it here, I want to stay here. This is important to me.”
The documentary is available to watch on the Nova Address YouTube channel Nova Address Dunmore - YouTube while further details can be found on https://novaaddress.com/
The following is worth noting: According to Reuters, as of Monday night (June 12), there have been at least 62,000 deaths and 60,000 non-fatal injuries as a result of the war with at least 15,000 people missing.
Approximately 17 million people have been displaced and a minimum of 140,000 properties have been destroyed or damaged. So if you come home from work this evening and feel like complaining about your day, take a breath and count your blessings…
Heading west now and into the pages of this week’s Dungarvan Observer, where concerns about a proposed new cycleway are not reserved for the potential Dungarvan to Mallow route, according to Christy Parker…
It would appear that the overwhelming success of the Waterford Greenway and its positive spin-offs for Dungarvan is a one-off in the opinion of some elected members given the tenor of a debate during the latest Dungarvan Lismore Municipal monthly meeting.
But, to be fair, when you weigh things up in the context of the route in question, the query raised last week was not without some merit.
Plans to develop a €400,000 cycle corridor between Dungarvan and Youghal received a mixed reaction, in stark contrast to the unanimously positive sentiment expressed at the East Cork Municipal District meeting the previous week.
Seeking a Section 85 agreement in which Waterford City & County Council would be the lead partner in the project given that 95 per cent of the proposal lay within our county boundary, Senior Engineer for Economic Development Seán Dobbs said the agreement would guarantee Waterford “major leverage across all aspects of the scheme”.
And while the Section 85 was ultimately approved, with the favoured route likely and unavoidably given the route in question “along the existing N25”, it was preceded by some colourful observations from the Council Chamber floor.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Tom Cronin said the scheme was “putting the cart definitely before the horse” before criticising Environment and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan for not availing of the “opportunity to fund a road from Youghal Bridge towards Kinsalebeg” and replace the narrow, “regional” standard route with a wider, safer dimension.
He added that as things stood when it came to the N25 that there was no hard shoulder and suggested that a cyclist would “get blown off their bike” if a wave comes over the sea wall. Cllr Cronin believes the €400,000 earmarked for the scheme would have “been better spent” upgrading the road and that the present plans were “a disaster waiting to happen”.
Anyone familiar with the approach to Youghal Bridge will know how narrow the section of road gets on its immediate approach and with that in mind, it was suggested at the East Cork meeting that a boat link could be established between the Ferry Point and the Youghal quayside.
Cllr Cronin dismissed this suggestion, claiming that ferry users could, due to bad weather, end up in Cappoquin but he conceded that it would “probably suit a few fellas who could leave the car behind and go across in the boat on a Sunday or a Saturday night for a few pints”.
No doubt we’ll hear more about this project in due course and hopefully it will prove equally colourful!
In this week’s Waterford News & Star, the extent of the role played by former Munster and Irish rugby star Donncha O’Callaghan within this year’s Waterford senior hurling panel came under scrutiny at a meeting held in Dungarvan last week, with quite a few contentions on that front being put to touch (pun intended) by County Board Chairman Sean Michael O’Regan…
…and Tomas McCarthy has all the key details from last Wednesday’s meeting in this week’s Sports section of the News & Star.
From the get-go, I felt too much was being made of O’Callaghan’s role with the panel and the stance taken by Sean Michael O’Regan appears to back up my contention.
He told club delegates at the meeting that O’Callaghan wasn’t officially part of the backroom team, explaining that O’Callaghan was a friend of manager Davy Fitzgerald’s from the ‘Ireland’s Fittest Family’ TV show and that he’d spoken to the players on six occasions.
Some controversy arose, where else but on social media, in the wake of Waterford’s Munster Championship defeat to Clare at Semple Stadium, a match that took place at the same time O’Callaghan was on punditry duty for RTE at the URC semi-final in Dubin between Munster and Leinster.
In reply to a query from Kilrossanty delegate Kevin Lonergan, Sean Michael O’Regan stated: “Donncha O’Callaghan wasn’t ever part of the Waterford GAA backroom team. He was well entitled to be at the Aviva. He had six discussions with the lads.”
Dispelling another rumour, Sean Michael confirmed that O’Callaghan received no payment for his talks with the players, stating: “Was there a contract signed? Absolutely not. He was not part of the backroom set-up. I fully get the perception that was out there but he was helping out a friend.”
And just to mention a new feature in this week’s News & Star by long-term contributor Cian Manning who on Page 16 of this week’s edition, interviews well-known city musician and historian Dermot Power about his life and times so best of luck to Cian with the column which is titled ‘Cian’s People’!
I review Waterford's local newspapers every Wednesday morning on WLRfm's 'Big Breakfast Blaa with Ollie & Dymphna: https://www.wlrfm.com/shows/the-big-breakfast-blaa
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