ARRANMORE ISLAND, Ireland ¨C There are two flags flying over the youth hostel on Arranmore Island, a speck of land off Ireland¡¯s northwestern coast, visible from the ferry as it pulls into its tiny port: the Irish tricolor and the blue and yellow banner of Ukraine.
Yaroslava Risukhina, a refugee from Ukraine, remembers the joyous feeling that swept over her when she saw the flags fluttering above the village. ¡°When we arrived by ferry, it was the evening, and it was beautiful,¡± she said, marveling at the view from the room her family shares at the hostel. ¡°Here, everyone knows everyone, everyone says, ¡®Good morning,¡¯ and for us that¡¯s unusual.¡±
Since the middle of this summer, she and her children have been among 25 Ukrainian refugees living on the remote island, where the population had been steadily dropping for decades.
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