{"id":641398,"date":"2026-08-17T07:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T07:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/641398\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T07:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T07:48:16","slug":"day-centre-may-have-to-reduce-services-after-ukrainian-staff-forced-to-leave-accommodation-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/641398\/","title":{"rendered":"Day centre may have to reduce services after Ukrainian staff forced to leave accommodation \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A south Dublin<\/a> day centre says it may have to reduce its services for older people in the community because its Ukrainian staff members have to leave their accommodation at Citywest under a change in Government policy.<\/p>\n

The Four Districts day centre in Rathcoole has 13 staff members, seven of whom are Ukrainian, working as carers, gardeners and in the accounts department. They live in the former Citywest Hotel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Government announced earlier this year it was phasing out State provision of accommodation for Ukrainians<\/a>. And in a letter received at the end of June, the Ukrainians who were accommodated in Citywest were told they have to move out on September 18th.<\/p>\n

It told them they can either apply for accommodation at a State-supported accommodation centre if \u201cthey have specific needs\u201d or source accommodation directly with \u201csupports and information\u201d.<\/p>\n

The State-supported accommodation centres include Inchmore House in Co Offaly, St Malachy\u2019s in Co Louth, Punchestown and Kill Equestrian Centre in Co Kildare.<\/p>\n

Irina Bereznytska, who has been the manager of the day centre for 10 years, says she will \u201cabsolutely not\u201d be able to operate the centre five days a week without the Ukrainian staff members.<\/p>\n

She says they could probably operate only two or three days a week.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Catherine Cullen, who has worked there for 15 years, says, \u201cThat\u2019s our big worry, that we couldn\u2019t provide a service … that\u2019s what we\u2019re scared of.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far only one woman has secured accommodation \u2013 and the rest face uncertainty over where they will live from September 18th.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ukrainians obliged to find alternative accommodation as State winds down contractsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Irish Times previously reported that 900 people at Citywest had been told the State would no longer provide accommodation for them. The former Saggart hotel is now the largest State-owned international protection accommodation centre after it was bought by the Department of Justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 1,500 Ukrainians will be affected when almost 90 hotels end accommodation contracts with the State between August and the end of October.<\/p>\n

Bereznytska says many staff members at the day centre \u201cwant to integrate in the society\u201d and want to \u201cgive back\u201d. \u201cThey\u2019re really, really grateful,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Bereznytska, who is originally from Ukraine and qualified as a doctor there, has lived in Ireland for 25 years. Of those who came to Ireland since Russia invaded in 2022<\/a>, the \u201cmajority of them lost everything. There was nowhere to go\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

Alina Kuzyk is a carer at the day centre. She came to Ireland more than four years ago and lives in Citywest. Her son is deaf and on the autism spectrum<\/a>, she says. She studied as a nurse in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

She was able to apply for the State-supported accommodation centres but says the four centres are too far from the school her son attends in Cabra, which is specifically for deaf students.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The unlikely city that is Ukraine\u2019s lifeline to the WestOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

She says her first year in Ireland was \u201cvery hard\u201d, adding that she was \u201cshocked\u201d and \u201cdepressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year and a half ago, she starting working at the centre, describing it as a \u201cvery perfect opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n

After receiving the letter in June, she says, some of those who attend the day centre were \u201cvery worried about the situation\u201d. She says she was worried, stressed and \u201ccried so much\u201d. <\/p>\n

She applied for lots of accommodation, but received no response. \u201cRent is very expensive,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

It is \u201ca miracle\u201d she has now found somewhere to live, she says, and she and her son are \u201chappy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Oleh Zymovskii has been a gardener at the centre for two years, growing cucumbers, strawberries, potatoes and tomatoes as well as tending to the garden.<\/p>\n

Through Bereznytska\u2019s translation, he says he came to Ireland three years ago.<\/p>\n

\"OlehOleh Zimovskii tends to tomatoes at Four Districts Day Care Centre for Seniors in Rathcoole, Co Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

He says he didn\u2019t leave Ukraine because he wanted to, but because he realised he could lose his life.<\/p>\n

He says it was \u201ca shock\u201d when they received the letter telling them they had to leave Citywest, and they are feeling the \u201cpressure\u201d to find somewhere else.<\/p>\n

In Ukraine, he had retired and spent time on an allotment where he had an orchard and grew berries and vegetables.<\/p>\n

People are \u201creally desperate\u201d to find accommodation, he says, adding that his \u201cheart is in Ireland\u201d. He says the people are \u201cvery kind\u201d and \u201cvery nice\u201d. \u201cI really love it,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\"OlenaOlena Denysova and her son Sergey Denysov both work at the Four Districts Day Care Centre in Rathcoole. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

The day centre cares for people aged 80 years and older from around 9.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday. The older people, who come from Rathcoole and nearby Brittas, Newcastle and Saggart, are collected and dropped home by a bus service.<\/p>\n

Before Covid, the day centre would have had 12 people on a busy day and this has since doubled to about 24. There is now a waiting list, Cullen says. <\/p>\n

Those who attend pay \u20ac10 a day and receive tea and home-made scones in the morning, followed by dinner and dessert later. They play bingo, sing songs, listen to music and take part in other activities, and about once a month they go out for a day trip.<\/p>\n

\"UkrainianUkrainian staff member Stratiy Olena looks after elderly people at the day care centre in Rathcoole. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Department of Justice says the ending of the provision of accommodation at the Citywest Hotel forms part of the wider phased withdrawal of State-contracted commercial accommodation for people granted temporary protection who arrived in Ireland before March 14th, 2024.<\/p>\n

The department says it \u201crecognises that individual residents may have concerns regarding their personal circumstances, including medical needs, disability, caring responsibilities, education and employment\u201d.<\/p>\n

These matters form part of the assessment process for those who apply for continued State-contracted accommodation, it says. Applications are being assessed on the \u201cbasis of the information provided by applicants\u201d.<\/p>\n

Medical evidence may be submitted for individuals with highly complex medical needs, the department says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere a person\u2019s application for ongoing accommodation is unsuccessful, they will be required to vacate their current accommodation on the applicable end date of their accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A south Dublin day centre says it may have to reduce its services for older people in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[11357,9,10,81470,13169,52,18,13,14,3428,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,13562,7,8,2264],"class_list":["post-641398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-autism","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-citywest-hotel","tag-department-of-justice","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-state","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117109753442697013","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}