Killarney

By Sean Moriarty
<h3>Up to 50 recently arrived Ukrainian refugees were welcomed to Killarney at a special Mother&rsquo;s Day event on Sunday.</h3>
Organised by well-known local hairdresser Pat O&rsquo;Neill at the International Hotel, it doubled as both a fundraiser and welcoming party for Ukrainians who are currently being housed in two local hotels.
 Pat and fellow hairdresser Orla Sheehan began the day by offering hair styles in lieu of donations to a fundraiser for the displaced Ukrainians.
 As the day went on they were joined by local musicians including Johnny Nolan and his band, Caitriona O&rsquo;Sullivan and Truly Diverse.
 The event was due to conclude with a performance by local accordion legend Liam O&rsquo;Connor but even he was upstaged by a group of Ukrainians who took to the stage and sang their traditional songs including their national anthem.
 While formally known as the &lsquo;State Anthem of Ukraine&rsquo;, it also goes by its native title &lsquo;Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy&rsquo;, which translates into English as &lsquo;Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished&rsquo;.
 &ldquo;It was a fantastic day, it was a great buzz,&rdquo; Pat told the Killarney Advertiser. &ldquo;This was all about welcoming the Ukrainians to Killarney &ndash; this is their town now for as long as they need it and we wanted to tell them about the various clubs and activities they can be part of. We picked Mother&rsquo;s Day because many of us are lucky to have loved ones, but displacement means these people are without their loved ones. They were blown away by it.&rdquo;
 A total of &euro;2,000 was raised on the day but the International Hotel matched the figure bringing the grand total to &euro;4,000. The money was lodged in a special account with Killarney Credit Union and will distributed as and when situations arise within the Ukrainian community.

Ukrainian national anthem rings out at special event

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