Monaghan legal eagles mercy mission to Ukraine

HE’S more used to the courtroom combat with judges and fellow lawyers - but a brave Monaghan-based solicitor has just seen up close the carnage inflicted by one of the world’s most brutal conflicts.

Big-hearted legal eagle Barry Healy has just returned from a mercy mission to war-torn Ukraine to deliver much-needed supplies to a people suffering under Russia’s ongoing attack on them.

And Barry, who runs Healy Law in Hillside, Monaghan Town, says the Ukrainian people are in need of as much help now as they did when Vladimir Putin’s Russian troops first invaded in 2022.

Speaking to Crime World about what he witnessed in Ukraine, Barry gave a harrowing account of the toll the four-year war has had on the people there.

He said: “We were brought to visit a graveyard while in Lviv and it was completely full.

“Yet we were shown a picture of when that graveyard was only first opened in 2023 and it had only 200 graves then but there are now over 10,000 people buried there.

“So this war is taking a terrible toll on the Ukrainian people, young men women and children, while Russia is also suffering many casualties.”

Barry travelled to Ukraine as part of the Scottish-based Pickups For Peace charity convoy, delivering life-saving aid and equipment to communities across Ukraine.

The journey into Ukraine involved a 12-hour drive from Holland through Poland to reach the border, before a further six-hour drive to the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

He said the people there were so grateful to receive the aid.Barry added: “They were also happy to see a show of solidarity with them and that they had not been forgotten about.

“As we travelled through, there were people waving Scottish and Irish flags as they are very grateful for the help our countries have been giving them.

“What amazed me was just how people in Lviv go about their daily life as normal as they can despite this terrible war ongoing there.

“But every morning at 9am, the whole of Ukraine stops for a minute’s silence to remember all those who have been lost in this conflict.”

However, Barry said despite the heavy toll the war is taking, he didn’t see any evidence of an imminent end to it.

“From speaking to people there, I didn’t get that impression,” he said.

“The Ukrainians are proud people and they are tough as nails.

“They have lost too much and too many people already to accept some sort of duff deal.

“They want peace and the war to end but not if it’s going to be on Russia’s terms. They most certainly won’t accept that.”

Meanwhile, Barry said he was concerned by comments in the Dail last week by Minister of State for Migration, Colm Brophy, that Government supports for Ukrainian refugees in Ireland will be wound down over the coming year.

He said: “As I said, the people of Ukraine need as much help now as they did at the very start of this.

“Having said that, I believe most of the Ukrainians who are in Ireland will want to return home at some stage.

“Ukraine is a beautiful, resourceful country that will thrive again once Russia’s invasion eventually ends. I am sure of that.”