By Sean Norman
On April 26th, 1986, the most devastating event in the history of nuclear power took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine.
The UN estimated that 50 deaths could be attributed to the immediate explosion and that up to 4,000 people would eventually die due to medical issues attributed to the radiation released after the explosion.
Through new documents (marked DFA/2023/47/6737) obtained from the National Archives of Ireland, we explore Irelands relief response and broader role during the Chernobyl disaster.
Correspondence between the UN Secretary General and Michael Gaffey. Photo: Sean Norman
On the 28th of September 1993, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs at the time, Jan Eliasson, sent a letter to, Michael Gaffey who at the time was the Director General of the Development Cooperation Division within the Department of Foreign Affairs.
This came after a meeting of the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chernobyl, held at Minsk on the 26th of May 1993.
After meeting with the UN’s Humanitarian Liaison Working Group, Eliasson, who would later become the president of the United Nations General Assembly, selected Ireland to help in a list of projects, “for priority action to address the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.”
The projects included help in four “priority areas,” that of “health; food, agriculture, and the economic environment”. Ireland was also asked for assistance with “social rehabilitation and socio-psychological rehabilitation.”
These projects corresponded to the needs of three affected states Belarus, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine – and had been “officially endorsed” by the nations. They promised to provide a solid basis for “future activities in the medium and long-term.”
The UN proposed a list of individual projects that could be funded independently of one another. In mid-November of 1993, the 48th session of the General Assembly took place and was an opportunity for all donor countries to present their official response to the request and “where necessary, to allow further discussion of the projects directly with representatives of the proposing United Nations agencies”.
They hoped that Ireland would view the requests, “in a favourable light and respond generously to the plight of those, who continue to suffer from the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.”
On the 7th of December 1993 Ireland put forth its relief project proposal to the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and stated the countries to be receiving the aid. This included both the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine but not Belarus.
The disasters described in the document include tuberculosis epidemics, the collapse of both countries healthcare systems, the destitution and displacement of the populations of the countries, conflicts in the North Caucasus region and radiation.
According to the documentation, Ireland provided 4 million euros worth of relief items to the disaster-stricken countries, including “medicines and medical materials, medical assistance, food parcels and other basic relief items”.
The supplies were delivered through a variety of means including intermediaries for contributions such as, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Netherlands Red Cross, Les Enfants De Chernobyl, Associazione per la Partecipazione Allo Sviluppo and another European NGO chosen by the Moscow Delegation to help with tuberculosis cases in Tomsk.
In the Russian Federation aid was sent to Moscow, Tomsk Oblast, Vornej, St. Petersburg and North Caucasus. In the Republic of Ukraine aid was delivered to Chernobyl and Rovno. The relief packages were expected to arrive in the countries throughout December and February.
The City.ie spoke to Professor Gearoid Ó Tuathail, who is Professor of Government and International Affairs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
We asked him about his thoughts on the documents we had acquired and his view on how Ireland fit into the broader narrative of the Chernobyl disaster.
What is your view on Ireland’s initial response to the disaster?
“In my view, Ireland has always been on the periphery of Europe, we’ve been wary of bigger nations simply by nature, and it must be understood that Chernobyl was not as simple as the meltdown. It has and still does shape geopolitical views on nuclear power, and at the time that was something Ireland was already sceptical about, even today we’re resistant to the idea of nuclear power stations being built in the country.”
Do you think these documents reflect that scepticism?
“These documents show that reserved nature I think rather well, at least in the political sense. We sent the most urgent items and spread them out as best we could. From other documents on relief efforts I’ve studied in the past these are fairly typical.”
So, you believe Irelands response to the disaster was entirely standard?
“I’ve always found that we’re unique when it comes to responding to human suffering, not just with Chernobyl, look at our response to the war in Gaza, or, and this of course relates well, our response to the war in Ukraine.”
Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal that 109,566 Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) were given to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BoTP) from Ukraine between 04 March 2022 and 29 September 2024.
Source: CSO. Chart showing the number of Ukrainians given PPSNs after receiving temporary protections
“The documents show the numbers to the story sure, but I was still living in Ireland during the disaster and the outpouring of support really had to be seen to be understood, you had Irish parents reaching across oceans to help children in Chernobyl bringing them into their own homes for recuperation.”
Since 1986 Chernobyl Children has brought, 25,600 children from radiation zones to Ireland for rest and recuperation. The clean air is believed to add an extra two years onto the lifespans of those suffering from the effects of radiation.
We also reached out to multiple organisations such as Irish Refugee Council and Ukrainian Action in Ireland for comment but did not receive a response.
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