When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the world looked on in horror. Angie Gough was no different, and she decided she wanted to do something to help innocent people displaced by the conflict.
She got in touch with some like-minded people, and within days there were two Ukrainian women, their three children, and a cat living in the basement of her Dublin home.
"Natalya, Sasha and their kids arrived... the taxi driver who took them over the border in Poland got in touch with them looking to see if there was anyone who could take his wife. One of our neighbours accommodated her," Ms Gough told BreakingNews.ie.
Her sister Aideen was also helping to match refugees with Irish people looking to host them, and from there, the movement grew.
After Sasha went on RTÉ radio's Ray D'Arcy show, a WhatsApp group they had set up ballooned, and that is where Helping Irish Hosts was born.
The organisation grew very quickly and there are now 29 full-time staff along with volunteers.
Founding members Angie Gough, Jill Robinson, Anton Krasun, Keith Marin, Carron McKinney, Eleanor Farrell, Karen O’Donohue, Andy O’Sullivan and Nathalie Anne Leonard were soon joined by other hosts, and their work now involves supporting Ukrainian refugees and host families.
To date, Helping Irish Hosts has successfully facilitated and supported matches for over 1,640 displaced Ukrainians with more than 680 hosts across Ireland, supported by the Government and the Irish Red Cross.
They wrote to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the Red Cross to explain their organisation, as there was initial frustration after 25,500 people signed up to the Red Cross to host only to find long delays in getting a response.
"The momentum at the beginning because people want to help is the magic sauce, but it's about sustaining that for the long term. It's phenomenal how many people are still hosting and stepping up," Ms Gough explained.
While there are challenges to hosting refugees, Ms Gough said her husband and three children all agree "it is the best thing we've ever done as a family".
"We've had three families with us. Two of them stayed for 15 months, one family went back to Ukraine last December. Now she's hosting in Ukraine.
"The two women who initially came to our house were the most inspiring women, Sasha and Natalya.
"They did so much, thought English to 800 people. Sasha went back to Ukraine, Natalya moved back with her boys, but life is decimated there, her marriage broke up, her husband has fought one term and went back for another.
"Another woman moved in and has since moved out and is renting, and we're helping her. She still needs a lot of support and the people in our community are just amazing.
"When we started, people came to do up our house, put up shelves, put a kitty litter in, gave us beds, wardrobes, an oven, somebody brought a fridge freezer!
"They found them school places, school uniforms, others showed them around Dublin, how to use the Luas, it was like a lightning rod for our community. I never knew most of my neighbours, but the community has really bonded over this too, and we see that happening all over the country."
Like the experience of other hosts, Ms Gough said she has formed a special bond with the families who stayed in her home.
"I think for Natalya and Sasha they always say it gave them such strength to think people are good. Their belief in humanity after what had happened to them before coming here was in shreds, and it just took another human being to restore their faith.
"It's a unique bond we have, it's more than friendship, sort of a kinship... something special."
She added: "I think for my kids this is a thing that will stay with them forever. You can't always make a big difference in the world, but you can make a difference by just being kind to somebody.
"In the early days, we tried to get Ukrainian kids into one of my children's schools, and they said no. She wanted to leave the school. She gave a talk to her classmates about what it was like, and she's a really quiet girl. They didn't change their stance, but it was amazing what she did.
"The friendships between the kids are great to see as well."
She said the response of hosts has been overwhelmingly positive, with a survey conducted by the group that found only 2 per cent of 1,500 hosts wouldn't recommend it, with 84 per cent saying it had been a good experience.
The group was "shocked and delighted" to find 80 per cent of respondents said they wanted to extend their pledge, 40 per cent indefinitely.
Ms Gough has kept in touch with the families who have returned to Ukraine since staying with her. They all come from the city of Yavoriv in western Ukraine, which has been targeted by Russia because it has a military base.
"The two girls had their apartments destroyed, so Sasha is in west Ukraine. Her husband is a doctor and is far away. She's minding her friends' kids as they are doctors.
"Natalya is at home there. There are 40 missiles some nights, but they know the sound, and they're not in immediate danger. One of her sons is 17, so he wants to do his service, and she's terrified about him going to fight."
Another host, Aideen D'Arcy, spoke to BreakingNews.ie about her experience of hosting Ukrainian refugees in her home, also in Dublin.
Ms D'Arcy also said it has been a positive experience for her and her daughter.
The woman currently staying with them has "become part of the family".
She has been going through a difficult time recently, as her family is Palestinian-Ukrainian and her father is stuck in Gaza amid the escalating threat of Israeli attacks.
Palestinian-Ukrainian family
"Our third guest has been with us since March. She's part of the family now. She is alone. Her mother passed away about six years ago, and her father is in Gaza. Her family is Palestinian-Ukrainian, so that's very hard. She is a dentist, she is very polite, she is a lovely woman, and she respects our space too, and I know she really appreciates a quiet home. The house is a safe space.
"She's been working and studying the language, focused on her dentistry, and she's being mentored at the moment. A friend of hers has just arrived in Ireland and stayed with us for a few days... the difference in her has been incredible, to have her friend in the same city."
Ms D'Arcy was full of praise for Helping Irish Hosts, and the support they offer to Ukrainians and Irish hosts.
"She has had great support in the medical industry, and from Helping Irish Hosts because it's a network and there are dentists and people in different fields in it as well as families.
"It's wonderful to see her being able to progress in her career.
"I think when people have experienced this kind of grief, it's so difficult. As a family, my daughter and I are careful to look after ourselves within it too. I'm happy to have her continue living with us... the government support is amazing because it allows us to do that.
"If my own child found herself in this situation, I'd hope people would help like Irish people have stepped up."
She said the experience is also a learning process, and that it is important to know when guests want company, or their own space.
"What you have you can share. My daughter knows it's not forever, but she feels it will be a friend forever. Sometimes the phone calls can feel quite loud, then we'll hear a burst of laughter and realise it was just an animated conversation. My daughter is usually the one who will say to me 'no mum, she's chatting to her friend'. We're always learning, and sometimes it's the kids who teach us what is really going on."
While the language barrier is a huge issue for many Ukrainian refugees, both Ms Gough and Ms D'Arcy said Google Translate has been a huge help along with English lessons put on in various locations.
Ms Gough said a wide range of people across the country have become involved with the group, with the majority having had no previous experience or knowledge about refugees.
"There's one guy called John Connors in Tipperary, he has a family with him now and had never left the country until he took this family in. Last May he went to Ukraine with his best friend. The two of them had never left Ireland before.
"Those two men, you could send them to advocate for refugee rights now. They know so much about how to help people. Before, they wouldn't have even had an interest in this type of thing.
"There are so many others like them currently hosting."
Reports this week claimed there has been tension in the Cabinet about the Government's response to Ukrainian refugees, and how to proceed with it.
Ms Gough feels it is something Ireland should be proud of.
She added that groups like Helping Irish Hosts should be consulted going forward. She also feels their work can be a template for how Ireland treats all refugees going forward, adding that they should all be treated how Ukrainians have been.
"There's a big push already within our host network, and the NGO sector, the welcome we've extended to Ukrainians, should be extended to everybody who seeks asylum here.
"You can see with Ukrainians how being allowed to work, being facilitated to go to school, having transport. You have to make that equal for international protection applicants if we're ever going to abolish Direct Provision and give people some ownership and agency over their own lives. Being allowed to work is a very basic one, and then having access to the same social welfare provision that Ukrainians have been granted.
"I think this moment is one to push that because it can work. Hosting is such a beacon of light. It's proof of the humanity of people and it's proof there is this desire to act and make change."
She added: "We were in Stradbally last week, speaking with Ukrainians already there and people who are willing to host, the community response there was amazing.
"There are 70 volunteers there. They are extending the contract in Stradbally, but the group of volunteers can't keep going forever.
"We've got support, and it is sustainable because we got the support we asked for, eventually, so something needs to be put in place to support the volunteer and community effort on the ground.
"There are also other towns like Lisdoonvarna where the population has doubled, the school is not set up, there is not enough GP care, no local transport, it is not fair to do that to communities and to keep the burden on them. It's hard to do it without proper organisation, funding and communication.
"If you don't support it, then a vacuum will be filled with negativity and the anti-refugee message will thrive."
She concluded: "We're the ones who will come up with solutions. I do think the Ukrainian response has been well-supported and funded, much better than the response for other refugees, so apply these learnings to everyone and I think we would be in a much more positive situation.
"If we can encourage people to pledge. If you do decide to do it, it's really well-supported, and it's overwhelmingly a positive experience despite the challenges."
You can find more information on Helping Irish Hosts here.
