The Monastery In Newbridge And The Convent In Kildare Town Should Be Used To House Refugees

Monday, 7 March 2022 14:47

By Caoimhe Harney

Kildare Senator Fiona O' Loughlin has written to Kildare County Council.

The Patrician Monastery in Newbridge and the Convent in Kildare Town should be made available as temporary accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, that's the view of Senator Fiona O'Loughlin.

Senator O'Loughlin commented:"I have written to the interim CEO of Kildare County Council asking that the newly acquired Monastery in Newbridge and the Convent in Kildare Town be made available to accommodate any Ukrainians in need should they need it.

“I do feel that the long term strategies for these properties should be to provide dedicated community facilities and I have been advocating strongly for some time that these facilities would be used to support community activities and would become hubs of community activity, however, given the scale of the humanitarian crisis I feel that these buildings should be used on an interim basis to house those Ukrainians who need it."

The Leader of the Irish Delegation to the Council of Europe, has also hit out at the Russian Federation in the Senate and called for Ukraine’s membership of the EU to be granted.

"We're talking about two men here and Putin is a bully, he's a thug, he's a warmonger.

"And at the other extreme we have President Zelensky who spoke so movingly to the European Parliament yesterday.

"He has bonded people like never before," she insisted.

“We all thought the days of war and war mongering were behind us. Ireland is at the very heart of one of the world’s most successful peace organisations, the European Union.

"As a nation, and as a people we know the strife of conflict. We have experience of conflict on our island, and we need to see every measure being taken to support peace, and the rule of law.

“I welcome the application by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to grant the Ukraine immediate membership of the European Union, and I fully support them in that regard.

"We need to stand in unison. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder and to offer every protection available under international law to Ukraine and to President Zelenskyy," she added.