Belarusian Opposition Leader Tsikhanouskaya, A Child Of Chernobyl rferl.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rferl.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Exiled Belarussian politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is among those sending St Patrick’s Day wishes to the country.
The 38-year-old, seen by many as the true leader of democratic Belarus, spent multiple summers in Roscrea through the Chernobyl Lifeline project.
After being officially defeated in the country’s presidential election last August, a result widely rejected by entities including the European Union, Svetlana fled the country and continues to fight for political reform in Belarus.
Ahead of St Patrick’s Day, she sent a Saint Patrick’s Day message to Ireland, a country she says she hopes to visit again soon, and “whose people have a very special place in (her) heart.”
People were always smiling in Ireland, we didn t smile in Belarus at the time independent.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from independent.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Coming to Ireland for the first time in the 1990s made Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya realise that things weren’t normal in her home country.
Aged 12, she tried ketchup and crisps for the first time when she came to Roscrea in Tipperary, as one of the Chernobyl children who were taken in by Irish families for respite during the summer months.
“The gap between life in Belarus and Ireland was very, very deep,” she told the Irish Independent, speaking via video link from Vilnius in Lithuania.
“For the first time in my life, I saw all those big malls and tried ketchup.
Coming to Ireland for the first time in the 1990s made Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya realise that things weren’t normal in her home country.
Aged 12, she tried ketchup and crisps for the first time when she came to Roscrea in Tipperary, as one of the Chernobyl children who were taken in by Irish families for respite during the summer months.
“The gap between life in Belarus and Ireland was very, very deep,” she said speaking via video link from Vilnius in Lithuania.
“For the first time in my life, I saw all those big malls and tried ketchup.