Over 300 attend Cork rally in support of Ukraine

SOLIDARITY and support for the Ukrainian people was shown on the streets of Cork City yesterday in a rally organised by a Cork charity supporting migrants from Poland and Eastern Europe.

Together-Razem was the organisation behind the march, which saw more than 300 Eastern Europeans, Ukrainians and Corkonians walk together in solidarity.

The rally started at South Mall at 4pm and the crowd marched down Parnell Place, along Merchant’s Quay, and up Patrick’s Street.

Speaking to The Echo, organiser Voyteck Bialek said it went well.

“We had a good crowd and a number of Cork City councillors attended and spoke,” Mr Bialek said.

“Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Cork this past week also took part.

“There were a lot of Ukrainian flags flown, posters and banners and chants asking for the war to stop.”

Mr Bialek said they wanted to express their solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

“At the moment there are 3,000 Ukrainian refugees in Ireland and that number will increase. We wanted to show our support and solidarity with them and also it was a call to action for people to get involved,” he said.

As a Polish man who has been in Cork for the past 15 years, Mr Bialek said he felt very close to the ongoing atrocities.

“Polish share cultures and values with Ukrainians [and] 1.7m refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland,” he said.

“We are helping them, we are treating them like our brothers and sisters.”

The rally organiser asked people to donate money to the fundraiser on the together-razem.org page.

“We are helping Ukrainians that arrive in Ireland and Cork, and we need money to fund the work we do,” he said.