Waterford mayor to host peaceful vigil in support of Ukrainian people

A peaceful vigil in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and Ukrainians living in Ireland will be held in Waterford this weekend. 

The mayor of Waterford City and County Council, Cllr Joe Kelly, will reportedly host the vigil taking place on Sunday March 6 at 12pm outside City Hall on the Mall. 

In a tweet issued today (Thursday March 3), the council stated, "To the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian community in Waterford, we support you and we stand in solidarity with you." 

The Mayor of Waterford City and County will host a peaceful vigil this Sunday at 12pm outside City Hall on the Mall.

To the people of #Ukraine and the #Ukrainian community in #Waterford, we support you and we stand in solidarity with you. pic.twitter.com/UQGrdrIkKI

— Waterford Council (@WaterfordCounci) March 3, 2022

It comes following days of escalating destruction by the Russian army in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the city of Kharkiv, as well as other areas of the country. 

Ireland may be required to take in well over 20,000 Ukrainian refugees as a result of the crisis, according to comments made by Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday (Wednesday March 2). 

He said, "I think it will be a people of Ireland response as well as a Government response. It will be challenging. This is the largest war on the continent of Europe since the Second World War.

"I’m not sure people have yet grasped the enormity of what is happening and what can potentially happen in terms of the repercussions for the continent of Europe.

"There will be a migration impact, there will be an economic impact in terms of inflation." 

An estimated one million people have so far fled Ukraine due to the war.