Acclaimed St Rynagh's footballer to travel to Polish/Ukrainian border to help refugees
St Rynagh's footballer Sean Dolan from Cloghan and Olivia Feehan from Meelick in Galway have started a non profit charity to aid Ukrainian refugees.
The duo made the long trip to the Ukrainian/Polish border yesterday (Thursday), travelling from Dublin to Hollyhead, then driving across Harrick, on the east coast of Finland, and sailing to Rotterdam before a 14 hour drive to Krakow.
They are travelling there with supplies from Ireland to help the Ukrainian refugees who have already landed in Poland. They have filled a minibus full of supplies to be dropped at the refugee centre set up in Przemysl, 30km from the Ukrainian border, and then use the minibus to help people get to where they need to go.
Sean and Olivia have already raised over €20,000 on Go Fund Me for their fundraiser and their aim is to raise €50,000.
The money donated will cover the following costs such as fuel for the minibus, food, medical supplies and possible accommodation for those travelling in the minibus. They plan to donate €200 to each family to help them on their journey.
Sean is currently on a career breaking from teaching at Banagher College and is known for his well-decorated sporting achievements. He captained the St Rynagh's seniors in 2016 at the age of 23, which was their first title in 23 years. Sean also captained the Cloghan footballers to intermediate success in 2020 and played for Offaly senior hurlers in 2018 and 2019. The teacher previously played hurling in Australia and won The WA Championship with Perth Sarsfield in 2017.
Olivia works as a Student Counsellor in TUS Midlands (Athlone campus.)
Sean came up with the idea mid March and kicked off the fundraising campaign on Saint Patrick's Day. Sean said, “I thought if I was over there I could make a massive difference. The initial plan was to bring over supplies such as food and medicine but then I started to link up with people already there.”
The campaign then became more cash focused as Olivia and Sean want to make sure that Ukrainian refugees have money to travel to the next place by covering the costs of flights, bus fairs and train journeys.
According to the secondary school teacher, they hope to pay the first month or two of rent for some refugees. Due to being on a career break he says “I have the the liberty to stay for a lot longer if I feel like I'm doing good work.”
The pair bought a bus and paid for the insurance themselves. “That's our commitment to it,” Sean says. “It also gives us the opportunity to travel to another part of Poland. We can just hop in the bus and go. If refugees need to be transported or need medical supplies that's another service we could provide.”
Donations can be made to their Go Fund Me page by searching for 'Irish Help Ukraine.'