As a people who have endured their own share of suffering under the yoke of Empire, the Irish have more reason than most to Stand With Ukraine. Indeed, Irish hearts are sore today at the heart-wrenching scenes of death and devastation from cultured Ukrainian cities which until recently were more likely to have been familiar to us as Ryanair destinations than as theatres of war.
And yet what is shocking to us is that for Ukrainians this is simply a repeat of the invasions which are still within the living memory of its older population. As with so many eastern European nations in the 20th century, Ukraine was invaded and occupied by Russians, then Germans, then Russians again – suffering the death camps of the Reich and the Gulags of Stalin alike – before finally winning their independence with the advent of Glasnost and the collapse of the USSR. In recent years, many of these former Soviet satellites – most notably the tiny Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have fought to underpin their newfound independence with membership of the European Union.
there must be a generous and welcoming response to the refugee crisis. Ireland, North and South, threw open its doors to the victims of war in the Middle East – another adventure of Empire in which civilians were the losers – and it must do so again for those fleeing war in the Ukraine.
Ironically, this is the same EU on which the UK has turned its back – dragging the North of Ireland out in its wake.
Ukraine, dragged down by decades of Soviet neglect and still fearful of provoking its larger neighbour, did not have recourse to EU membership or, indeed, the comfort blanket of NATO. All of which has made it catnip for the new Empire ambitions of President Vladimir Putin.
There is no doubt that the response of the world to the Russian invasion has been immediate and heartfelt – the unprecedented provision of weaponry to the outgunned Ukrainian forces is evidence of Europe’s outrage. But the bigger lesson of Empire is that superpowers have interests rather than friends and the interests of NATO will always trump friendships.
Which leaves the Ukrainian people alone in an uneven fight against one of the world’s biggest armies. The fearlessness and resolve of the Ukrainian people, epitomised by their President Volodymyr Zelensky, will ensure every inch of sovereign Ukrainian ground will be defended to the death in the days and weeks to come. But, as the Irish know, right does not always win out over might. But the courage of the people of the Ukraine can be matched in the response of ordinary, freedom-loving people to the Ukrainian cries for help. In particular, there must be a generous and welcoming response to the refugee crisis. Ireland, North and South, threw open its doors to the victims of war in the Middle East – another adventure of Empire in which civilians were the losers – and it must do so again for those fleeing war in the Ukraine.
The foot-dragging, double-talk and hypocrisy of London must not be allowed to hamper local efforts to do everything to defend – and rebuild – a free Ukraine. Even as our TV screens bring ever more harrowing reports of the blitzkreig on Kyiv and Kharkiv, let their embattled peoples know that the Irish will always rally behind the blue and yellow flag of a free Ukraine
