The people of Newbridge and Ballygar have come together to renovate and restore an old national school building to house Ukrainian families.

Former national school homes Ukrainian families

Over 120 volunteers restore building to provide accommodation for refugees

A VACANT school in the east Galway village of Newbridge has been transformed into an accommodation hub for Ukrainian families, the first of whom arrived last weekend.

Killyan National School closed to pupils in 2012, but over the past seven days a group of over 120 people from the local community have come together to renovate the building that will house Ukrainian families and provide English language classes to the newest members of the community.

Eight houses in the village have also been offered to those fleeing their homes in the war-torn Eastern European country following the invasion by Russian forces last month.

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