Ukrainian Doctors in Ireland written to by President of the Medical Council

Ní neart go cur le chéile - There's no strength without unity

Friday, 4th March 2022: The President of the Medical Council, Dr Suzanne Crowe, has written to Ukrainian doctors on the Irish Medical Register in the midst of a terrifying and challenging time for them, as tragic events continue to unfold in Ukraine.

In her letter, Dr Crowe said: “I do not have the words to express how I feel, how we all feel, about the great suffering and immense challenges Ukraine and all of its people are facing due to unwarranted and unacceptable Russian aggression.”

“As a Paediatric doctor, working in intensive care in a large children’s hospital, watching the news footage of critically sick children being treated in the basement of a hospital is something that I cannot fathom.”

Dr Crowe spoke about the strength, unity and great courage of the Ukrainian people, writing: “The hope, strength, unity and courage of the Ukrainian people and its leaders, in the face of such great adversity, is a true inspiration to the people of the world.”

"As the Irish saying goes ‘Ní neart go cur le chéile’ – There is no strength without unity.”

Concluding the letter, Dr Crowe stated: “On behalf of the Medical Council of Ireland, and of doctors across Ireland, our thoughts and prayers are with the nation of Ukraine, your families, friends and colleagues.”

“Glóir don Úcráin. Slava Ukrayini.”

ENDS

Full text of letter:

Dear Doctor,

In reading this letter, you may be a doctor from Ukraine, or a doctor who trained in Ukraine and who is a registered medical practitioner on the Irish Medical Council’s register.

I am writing to you as a doctor myself. I am writing to you as a mother.

I do not have the words to express how I feel, how we all feel, about the great suffering and immense challenges Ukraine and all of its people are facing due to unwarranted and unacceptable Russian aggression.

As the conflict unfolds, the world watches the news reports, we listen to the interviews, we see the images. All that is happening is so hard to imagine yet it is very real and worrying.

As a Paediatric doctor myself, working in intensive care in a large children’s hospital, watching the news footage of critically sick children being treated in the basement of a hospital is something that I cannot fathom. Watching mothers carrying their children, witnessing the sick and the elderly, the most vulnerable people in any society being left with no alternative but to walk kilometre after kilometre, often with nothing but the clothes on their backs, to get to safety across the border is heart-breaking.

You may have been educated and trained in one of the many excellent medical schools in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odessa, Lviv, Sumy or in one of the other cities in Ukraine. Watching attacks on cities and towns, in a country you know so well, unfolding on our screens must be extremely difficult for you.

The hope, strength, unity and great courage of the Ukrainian people and its leaders in the face of such great adversity is a true inspiration to the people of the world.

As the Irish saying goes “Ní neart go cur le chéile” – There is no strength without unity.

On behalf of the Medical Council of Ireland, and of doctors across Ireland, our thoughts and prayers are with the nation of Ukraine, your families, friends and colleagues.

Glóir don Úcráin. Slava Ukrayini.

Best wishes,

Dr Suzanne Crowe
President, Medical Council