How the people of Buttevant transformed a convent for people fleeing Ukraine
Buttevant Ukrainians Former Members A Assisted A Of Arriving Civil In Rest Defence Centre North In For As Preparing Convent Cork
A North Cork community has been praised for their work in coming together to prepare an idle convent for Ukrainian refugees.
The people of Buttevant, at the direction of North Cork Civil Defence, transformed an old convent that has been lying idle for more than four years for almost 50 refugees in a few short hours on Friday.
Gerard Sheehan of North Cork Civil Defence said the call came in shortly after 7pm that St Mary’s Convent was to be used as a resting place for some 30 to 40 refugees due to arrive later that night.
“We had about 19 of our volunteers there fairly quickly,” he said, adding that some 20 other community members were already on-hand offering help and assistance.
At that time, Sheehan recalls, the place was not suitable for anyone to live in.
A busy night for @CorkCivil vol who were requested at 7.30pm to assist in setting up a rest centre for Ukrainian people who have come to stay in Ireland. An old convent in Buttevant has been made available for them. It’s a lovely building but needed a lot of TLC to get it ready pic.twitter.com/lpzFPXN2ic
— Civil Defence IRL (@CivilDefenceIRL) March 19, 2022
"There was no heating, the lights were gone, the water pressure was so low, there were some beds, but not enough. I thought, there’s no way we’ll have this ready in a few hours.”
But he was wrong.
Within the hour, local electricians and plumbers were hard at work ensuring those fleeing Ukraine would have a safe, warm place to lay their heads that night. The Civil Defence took to the road to collect beds, while duvets and bedding arrived at the convent by the carload. A local catering company helped prepare food, while other volunteers were kept busy cleaning walls, sweeping floors and dressing beds.
In total, more than 50 local people joined in the effort.
At around 2.15am on Saturday, a coach arrived carrying approximately 40 exhausted Ukrainian refugees - mostly women and children.
"I’d say all they wanted was a bed,” said Sheehan.
On Sunday, a further 12 to 14 refugees arrived from Dublin airport.
“There’s one baby, and the rest of the age group probably ranges from one to 60. There are roughly seven or eight kids and four adult men.”
The convent is now being run by the refugees. “The last thing you want is for them to feel there are people watching them,” he says.
“They’re settling in now, they’re getting used to it.”
For those in the North Cork community and beyond who are eager to continue to help the Ukrainian community, Sheehan advises people to keep an eye on local Facebook pages like Buttevant Community Council and Buttevant Blog.
“We were overwhelmed with donations of clothes, food and toiletries over the weekend. The Civil Defence ended up having to ferry four van loads down to Cahermoyle House in Limerick (where more than 50 Ukrainian refugees are taking shelter).
“If they want something, they will put it up on social media.
“On Sunday morning, for example, they were looking for can openers because they’d a rake of canned food but no way to open it. In a short space of time, the community had dropped in seven.”
Currently, the Ukrainian refugees are appealing for NEW ladies' bras and men’s casual clothing, nail clippers and files. Donations can be dropped into The Memorial Hall on Buttevant Main Street (by the bus stop), staffed by volunteers from 11am - 1pm and 5:30pm -7pm every day this week.
A GoFundMe appeal has also gone live, which has raised over €6,000 so far. You can donate to the appeal here.