Since February of this year, just under 3,800 Ukrainian refugees have settled in Galway, and one of the sectors that had to respond most rapidly to those new arrivals was education.
For Claddagh National School Principal, Michael Gallagher (pictured), the Ukrainian children who have joined their school community have, like every other child, given the school far more than could ever be given to them.
Claddagh NS has a long history of providing support for children from a wide variety of backgrounds and has particularly strong links with the Eglinton Direct Provision Centre in Salthill.
Key to their efforts is a commitment to keep the interest of every individual child to the forefront, and their response to the Ukrainian arrivals has been no different.
“We always say that our teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) learn more from the children than we could ever teach them – their respect for each other, their tolerance and not having any prejudice.
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