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Halfpints: Nadia Dobrianska on Leaving Ukraine
Ireland’s Response to the Ukraine Crisis
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Since our last episode, Europe’s political landscape has been transformed – and that of Ireland along with it. Naomi lays out the facts about Ireland’s unique position in the international response to the Ukraine crisis. We find out why debates about military neutrality and NATO membership might once again be coming to the fore, and discuss why Ukraine’s president gave Ireland a less-than-glowing appraisal when it came to supporting his country. We also check back in with Nadia Dobrianska, whose life has been turned upside down in the weeks since the Russian invasion. Now safe in Co. Cork, she tells us what it was like to suddenly flee her home city of Kyiv, and how she managed to make it back to Ireland.
This episode is our Season 5 finale. We’ll be back in a few weeks with plenty more topics about Irish culture, history, and politics in a brand new Season 6!
If you want to hear more Irish Passport content and help support the show along the way, you can sign up to our Patreon account at www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. We’ll shortly publish a bonus episode featuring more of Nadia’s story.
You can follow us on Twitter at @PassportIrish and Nadia at @NadiaDobryanska
Ukraine and Ireland: a shared history
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This weekend, a group of musicians gathered in O’Briens Irish pub in the Ukranian capital and belted out traditional Irish tunes as a distraction from the threat of war.
In this episode we uncover the surprisingly rich common history shared by Ireland and Ukraine, as told by a woman living through the dramatic recent events that have drawn the world’s attention to Kyiv as Russian troops advance.
Joining us is listener Nadia Dobrianska, who works in a human rights organisation in her native Kyiv and happens to be an afficionado in Irish culture and history. She unveils a hidden world of historical commonalities between the two countries, who both began asserting their nationhood in the same era, suffered domination from neighbouring power, and still bear the deep scars of famine from that experience.
Nadia also has a fascinating personal story to share. She experienced two revolutions in Kyiv before moving to Belfast in 2019 to pursue her love of Irish studies. There, she managed to pick up fluent Gaeilge through lessons on the Falls Road. Now back in Ukraine, those language skills have come in handy: with the world’s attention turned onto her country due to fears of a Russian invasion, Nadia has begun reporting on the situation in Irish for a range of Irish-language media outlets.
With her experience of living in Ireland, love for and deep knowledge of Irish culture and history, there’s hardly a better person to explain the Ukranian perspective on the current situation and the country’s unexpected but profound common heritage with Ireland.
Bonus episodes are published for our supporters over at www.patreon.com/theirishpassport
You can follow us on Twitter at @PassportIrish and Nadia at @NadiaDobryanska
Huge thanks to our sponsors, Irish at Heart, for backing this episode. Sign up to receive surprise boxes of artisan Irish goods at irish-at-heart.com, and get a special 15% discount off your first box with the discount code IRISHPASSPORT. Here’s the link: https://irish-at-heart.com/
Music in this episode:
Maidan sings the anthem of Ukraine, 2013 https://youtu.be/lItPEbc6e-I
Nadia Dobrianska: https://twitter.com/NadiaDobryanska/status/1495383843666280453?s=20&t=_ZyNy3-uZBLyZKcEFeNm9A
Oy u Kyyevi and Ziydy ZIydy by Ukrainian Village Voices; Chief Boima, Cello Duet No 1 via the Free Music Archive
Choir sings hymn in Kyiv metro, captured by Jake Hanrahan https://twitter.com/Jake_Hanrahan/status/1495460993345933312?s=20&t=30yOxSEX42Pa3XrrftF2aw