'The convoys are not just about action, but about connection'

BARBARA EGAN was one of the drivers in the recent convoy that left Trim for Ukraine, bringing 14 vehicles, including an ambulance, medical and other humanitarian aid to the war torn country. Here she recounts the journey

While Joe Biden struggled to pass a bill through Congress involving the sending of billions to Ukraine and European leaders debated the nature of aid they could source, a steady stream of aid was making its way to the war-torn country from unexpected places. One of those is the StockHouse Restaurant in Trim from where seven convoys of aid have set out to drive across Europe to reach Ukraine, the most recent travelling in November.

The aid supplied now includes a total of 77 vehicles, mostly tough, sturdy 4x4s, but also fully kitted-out ambulances and a 15-seater mini-bus recently requested by Ukrainian aid distribution initiative, the Sunflower Network. All vehicles were packed to absolute capacity with emergency medical supplies, desperately-needed generators, food and clothing, tools and pet food.

‘StockHouse 4x4s’ was set up by restaurant owners Mick Hughes, Orla Fitzgerald, Carmel Darcy and Tom Darcy, in response to the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022.

Mick and Orla were in Berlin in the week war was declared, and made their way to the Hauptbanhof (the main train station) in the city to see if they could help with the thousands fleeing the fighting. What they saw there, the innumerable grandmothers, mothers and small children, arriving on train after train, bewildered and terrified, persuaded them that they had to find a way to help.

The newly formed StockHouse 4x4s reached out for help with logistics and contacts, they needed reliable and legitimate distribution networks in Ukraine. Mick and Orla had spent time in Haiti as volunteers where they had met Damien Meaney who has been sourcing aid and driving aid convoys since the age of 19. He put them in touch with the Sunflower Network’s Viktoriya (Vika) Baytser.

The most recent convoy left Trim on the 11th November with 12 4x4s, a minibus, an ambulance and 29 volunteers ranging in age from mid-70s to 16. There was a core group of ‘old hands’ who had already been on several trips, Mick Hughes and Orla Fitzgerald, Shauna Gallagher, Kieran Tansey from aid charity ESPWA which sources aid for Ukraine and other disaster areas, Gerry Gilgunn, James Howley, Martin Lang, who was on his first trip.

Dunderry heating engineer David Duignan, for whom the recent convoy was his third trip, wanted to do something practical instead of just donating money. Darran McGoldrick, accompanied by Carmel Darcy, was driving the mini bus, called for some inscrutable reason ‘The Venga Bus’, into which he has crammed an inordinate amount of firefighting equipment donated by Dublin Fire Brigade, along with wheelchairs, crutches and medical aid, packed so tightly that a mouse couldn’t squeeze its way in.

Trim garage owner Sean McNally went out for a meal in the StockHouse Restaurant and somehow found himself on the trip with friend Jimmy Collins, driving a 4x4 they sourced in Castlewellan. With his experience as a mechanic, McNally was a vital presence on the convoy.

Cllr Noel French, who was in the middle of an election campaign was driving a vehicle he sourced himself along with Damien Meaney.

Fergal Bent, the oldest member of the crew, a retired electrical engineer, ran a company dealing in cranes and generators which is now headed by his son Brian. Fergal has retained the ability to source large quantities of generators and fire extinguishers, and jammed as many as he could into his vehicle. He shared the car on this trip with his son, Brian. "That’s the greatest feature of this trip for me," he says. "Spending time with my son and making those memories."

Alexander Shekhter, who was involved in all the convoys, was driving this time with Mick Hughes.

The group was joined by a contingent of Dublin firefighters including Jim Sargent, Ken Brady, John McCrory and Patrick Feehan.

Noel McGann was driving with Ciaran Prunty and Kieran Tansey.

Also in the Convoy was Keir McNamara, who had visited Chernobyl and Kyiv in 2019, and was in Warsaw when Putin invaded Ukraine. "I saw people fleeing the war arriving in the city, the feeling then was that the Russian forces could roll straight through Ukraine and keep going,’ he said. "Nobody at that time would have guessed the strength of the Ukrainian nation in holding back that invasion." Deciding to join the next convoy, he enlisted friend Cathal Talty to go with him. They were joined by Anthony Gavin and his son.

Before the convoy left the StockHouse in Trim, speeches were made by First Secretary at the Embassy of Ukraine in Ireland, Dmytro Shchedrin, Mick Hughes, President of County Meath Chamber of Commerce, Councillors Noel French, Joe Fox and Linda Nelson Murray, Pastor of the Living Hope Church Ciaran Loughran and Fr John Kennedy Tibaagalika of St Patrick’s Parish.

Alexander Shekhter told a story about a group of Irish and a group of Ukrainian people thrown together in a room, neither of whom could speak the other’s language.

"After a short while, gales of laughter started to issue forth from the room. I have no idea what was so funny or how they were communicating, but communicating they were. Ukrainians and Irish share a sense of humour without a doubt," he said.

A beautiful ceremony and blessing of the vehicles was performed by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ireland, organised by the Ukrainian community in Trim (who also collected and donated a large amount of aid), and then it was time to get on the road.

I travelled to Rosslare with Noel French. Always an erudite and entertaining conversationalist, Noel was discussing politics as he was shortly to return to Trim where he was a candidate in the general election.

The ferry from Rosslare to Dunkirk is the hardest part of the trip for many of the crew as it is 24 hours of enforced non-action, but it is also a good opportunity to get to know the team members. The weather was nowhere near as bad as the last convoy I travelled on, but the wind was severe enough to make any trips to the decks out of the question for fear of being blown overboard.

On arriving in Dunkirk, we travelled the 300 km across France and Belgium to Severnum in the Netherlands in darkness arriving at 12.30am, most people going straight to bed. Shane and Anthony Gavin however did go out to explore a bit, and Shane was very taken with the architecture of the traditional Dutch Gable houses. Coping with a Google Maps problem, Jim Howley and Martin Lang are last to arrive at 2.30am.

Leaving at 7.30am the next day I’m navigator for David Duignan. At the first of the predesignated fuelling stops near Dortmund, I switch to driving Anthony Gavin’s Sante Fe to give him a break. As I owned the same model myself, I’m happy out- except it’s pouring rain and the wipers squeak.

At the next stop I’m back navigating for David Duignan, and we startle the convoy by dodging about the lanes as I attempt to find good angles for photographs before arriving in Potsdam, a total of 570 km that day. Carmel Darcy has chosen a great hotel location right in the city centre, and we arrive in early, so we can head out for a few beers and very good pizza and have an enjoyable evening.

Another 7.30am start and we pass into Poland where the second stop is KFC at a shopping centre in Gliwice. I’m then back to driving the Sante Fe with Anthony Gavin navigating and we are moving very steadily. I only discover later that Anthony loves rally car racing and works as a rally car navigator. Heavy traffic slow us down as we reach Kracow 600km later, but we eventually make it to the hotel where we meet up with the lovely Viktoriya (Vika) Baytser, and also with David Gorey and Edel Dugdale, two of the ‘old hands’ who couldn’t make the trip, but have come for the last leg.

The next day brings us into Ukraine where we rendezvous with Anatoly, mayor of Vika’s hometown of Brody, who works extensively bringing aid to the front, tiny dynamo Katya from the Trinity Foundation, and Roksolana who works for the Sunflower Network on the ground in Ukraine.

There is also a crew of drivers to take the vehicles and their contents east for distribution. "All the aid coming in here goes directly to those who need it," Vika explains. "We are in constant contact with those working in the field, and they send us urgent requests for what they need, we send the requests on to Ireland, and somehow, all those things are found and packed into vehicles to arrive here and go straight to those who requested them."

The thing that strikes me most forcibly about Anatoly and the driving crew, definitely different from the last convoy in March, is the exhaustion etched into their (some very young) faces.

There is a wonderful banquet laid on for us in the hotel, and speeches and small thoughtful gifts are given, thanking us for the aid and also for coming - for just being there to show solidarity with Ukraine.

Mick Hughes, instigator of the initiative, is presented with two impressive medals, one for the freedom of the city of Brody, the other an award from the Ukrainian Special Forces for aid rendered. Alexander (Sasha) Shekhter then teaches us the five traditional toasts of Ukraine, although those in the know approach the plentiful Ukrainian vodka with caution, as to drink more than one tiny glass you definitely need the level head of a Ukrainian.

Why do we do this? Why involve 29 people and drive the whole way across Europe? Why not just load all the aid and the vehicles into containers and ship them to Ukraine?

Sasha offers an explanation; "At the beginning of it all, the idea is ephemeral, existing only in someone’s mind, and then it becomes real, it becomes vehicles, engines, oil, boxes. On the journey it changes again as people unite with a common goal; the trip is not just about action, but about connection. Immediately-needed aid is requested and somehow becomes available and is transported to the place where those who requested it can immediately access it. The difference then made is often that of life or death, and that difference is made by somebody who cared enough come here to help the people of Ukraine."

The last word goes to Mick Hughes: "The adventure of travelling the whole way across Europe and the camaraderie on the trip is what gets people involved and why they give their time and their hard work to collecting aid and driving it to where it’s desperately needed."

If you want to help by donating aid, money, a vehicle or volunteering to drive on the next convoy in May 2025, email justask@stockhouserestaurant.ie or call 086 882 0760.