‘If I hadn’t children, I would go home and fight myself’

Heartbreak and anger were the overwhelming emotions in the Healy home in Trim when the Russian tanks starting rolling into Ukraine last Thursday.

Luba Healy, who has lived in Ireland for 22 years, is extremely worried for her mother and grandmother who live in central Ukraine.

“We were also terribly worried for my nephew who was in Odessa when it came under attack,” she says.

However, he managed to get out of the Black Sea coastal city and was making his way to the Moldovan border and hopefully to Ireland.

As well as her fears for the safety of her family, Luba is heartbroken for her country and its citizens.

“Their future is taken away. If I hadn't children, I would go and fight myself.” Luba, who is married to local businessman, Eugene Healy said while it was well known what Russia had been planning, the actual news that they had invaded was devastating.

“My 70-year-old mother and 98-year-old-grandmother are there and I am terrified for them. I speak to them several times a day and I am very worried for them.”

As of yesterday, her mother and grandmother were still safe and Luba is hoping it stays that way.

Heartbreakingly, Luba's mother told her that while she had lived her life, she was upset because she wanted more time with her grandchildren.

Luba's mum and granny live in Haivoron, the town in central Ukraine where Luba grew up. It is three hours from Odessa and five hours from Kyiv.

“My granny lived on the same street as us when I was growing up. She now lives with my Mum. There was just my brother and I and he now lives in Newbridge.

“We visited Ukraine last August, Nana wasn't well and we had a surprise baby which we wanted her to meet.”

Luba says her mother would never come to Ireland to visit for any significant length of time because of caring for Luba's grandmother. Luba had friends in Kyiv and spoke to them.

“There had been attacks, but they are trying to maintain a normal life. It is a very frightening time.

“There are a lot of people in the same boat as me. There are Irish people stuck over there that cannot get out. Hope is all that is left.”

Luba came in Ireland for a year in 2020 and ended up staying a while longer. She met her husband Eugene in 2003 when she started work in Trimfold, where he is managing director.

“He was giving me a lift one day and crashed the car. That was the start of it,” she says. The couple have three children together and Eugene has two older children from a previous marriage.

Luba is heart- broken for her country.” The young people will have no future there. “Everyone is trying to maintain a normal life, but the young people of Ukraine will fight.

“It is unbelievable that this is happening in 2022, that one man can do this. Nothing good can come of war,” she says.