Ukrainians put on a great show and celebrate their nation
Arriving from battle-torn Kiev just a fortnight before Ukraine Independence Day celebrations in Nenagh on Thursday of last week, IIliia Ishchenko wowed his audience with his beautiful singing in the packed auditorium of the town’s Arts Centre on Thursday last.
IIliia, a fresh-faced young man in his 20s, had just stuck it out through 492 days of war in the bombarded Ukrainian capital before he finally decided it was time to flee.
“I have experienced a lot,” he says of the death and destruction and after witnessing the devastation caused by Russia’s shelling of the city. “I have experienced stuff that you would not like, that’s for sure.”
Since the outbreak of the war IIliia had been working as an interpreter for a German newspaper which has a reporter on the ground covering the conflict.
“My mother’s health was just getting worse and worse, so we decided we had to move.”
IIliia’s mother is now in the care of a family friend in Lithuania and he, a former competitor in the Ukrainian version of the singing talent show, The X Factor, arrived in Nenagh on August 10 last and is currently in accommodation in the Abbey Court Hotel.
“It’s extremely friendly here, excessively friendly,” he says, as he struggles a little to find the right English words to sum up his impressions of Nenagh in the two weeks since his arrival. “People are smiling and I have not seen anything bad. People are so nice; I am still trying to get used to it. It’s a different mentality here - in a really good way.”
The first big thing that struck IIliia on his arrival in north Tipperary was the colour of the grass. “Grass here is in another dimension,” he marvels. “It’s not just green; it’s like it pops your eyes somehow - it’s sparkling. We don’t have that in the Ukraine”
Blessed with a beautiful voice, IIliia brought his own sparkle when he went on stage at the Arts Centre and sang two delightful songs to an appreciative audience during what turned out to be a memorable concert staged by the Ukrainian community living in north Tipperary.
SUPPORT
One of the main organisers was Olena Arkhanhelska, the top Ukrainian official on the ground in the locality who helps find accommodation for the refugees fleeing the war.
She told The Guardian that there are now around 480 Ukrainians in north Tipperary, and more arriving every day. Olena says the refugees have received great support from a number of agencies, including Tipperary County Council and the Irish Red Cross.
“People really enjoy the area and the hospitality,” she replies to a question about how her fellow citizens are settling in. “Everybody is absolutely happy.”
The concert, attended by local dignitaries including the Cathaoirleach of the County Council, Ger Darcy and the Cathaoirleach of the Nenagh Municipal District, Rocky McGrath, took months to prepare.
It was an expression by a proud people of a proud nation that stands firm against their oppressor and who are taking a firm stand, not just for Ukraine, but for peace everywhere. “It’s a very emotional day for us all,” says Olena. “We’re fighting not just for the independence of Ukraine but for peace in the world.”
The concert, supported by the North Tipperary Development Company, was a major success and a powerful expression by the Ukrainian community of their heritage and traditions.
STAR SOPRANO
Star of the show was the amazingly talented and multi-award winning Ukrainian soprano Kseniia Yarova, who performed a number of traditional songs of Ukraine - “songs of the Motherland” - and rounded off with a splendorous rendition of the Whitney Houston hit, I Will Always Love You.
Local singers Damian O Donoghue and Joanne Mulqueen warmed up the crowd before the main event began with the playing of the Ukrainian National Anthem. Singing and dancing by Ukrainian children added much to the concert, which also featured a short and moving film capturing how the war had razed so much of Ukraine’s beautiful architecture and destroyed the lives of so many people.
At the end of the performance the Ukrainian men, women and children in the audience gave a standing ovation in tribute to the way they have been treated in Nenagh and the wider Tipperary community. They then proceeded to hand out traditional gifts that they had made themselves to the local politicians and other dignitaries present.
JUST THE BEST
“Irish people are just the best I ever experienced,” IIliia Ishchenko, told the audience after performing one of his songs. “You have no idea how important it is to come to another country and for people to smile - I so much value it. Thank you for accepting us and welcoming us. We are very grateful for that and I hope we can make your country a better place.”
In her address to the audience at the end of the concert Olena Arkhanhelska had kind words for everybody associated with its staging.
“Thank you to everyone who supports us every day. Some of us will stay here forever, because we have no homes anymore and we will do our best for your country. You opened you doors to us and we are so thankful for everything you have done.”