Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley, who travelled to the Ukrainian city of Lviv at the weekend, has called for the process at the European borders to be made easier for refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
Mr Dooley, who is vice president of the EU political grouping ALDE, told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that he and MEP Billy Kelleher had been invited to travel to Ukraine by a member of the Ukrainian People's Party - which is led by president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
They were transported from the Polish border to Lviv, about 100 km away, by their Ukrainian colleagues who wanted them to see at first hand the difficulties being experienced by people.
There were 20 km long tailbacks of cars at the border along with 5 km long lines of people who had walked to the border, some of whom had to spend two days in the cold waiting to be processed.
It’s an appalling situation when you consider the temperatures at night.
Mr Dooley said they saw vulnerable people, young families, there was a visible absence of men who had stayed to fight, older people in wheelchairs.
“This really is a humanitarian crisis on the other side,” he said.
From the EU side there needed to be a more coordinated effort to get people over the border faster. The process needed to be made easier.
Mr Dooley said he and his colleagues in ALDE will be reporting back to their respective parties with the message that the EU needed to give greater assistance.
When asked about the Department of Foreign Affairs recommendation that Irish people not travel to Ukraine, Mr Dooley said that he had taken a calculated risk.
Every effort would have to be made to “step up” to make it easier to cross the border. There was a huge willingness among the Irish people to assist people fleeing an appalling situation, he said.
