The Government’s u-turn on and subsequent denial of involvement in a review of Special Needs Assistant allocation was an embarrassing episode for them, but a stressful episode for school communities.

Teacher, commentator and mother to a child with special needs, Ciara Reilly has been writing about the review for the Irish Examiner this week.

With her uniquely multi-faceted perspective on this issue she explains just how the SNA role has evolved since the circular of 2014 which governs the role, how dependent many schools are on their SNA colleagues, and how the hasty cancellation of the review amid political backlash means a missed opportunity to address real issues facing schools.

Read Ciara’s articles:

Ciara Reilly: Power shift behind SNA U-turn exposes Government's weakness

Ciara Reilly: Definition of need has changed to save money on SNAs

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‘On 24th of February, 5 in the morning, I woke up because my neighbours were screaming and I heard like, “It started! It started!”

‘I looked out of the window and I saw explosions. I was in Kyiv at the time and I saw explosions going around... you could hear explosions, and people were rushing for the apartments to the parking spot we had, and just packing their bags, kids, all they had, pets, and just leaving immediately.

‘It took me 30 hours just to get away from Kyiv on that day.’

It’s four years today since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was a day that changed the course of world history, with ripple effects on the lives of ordinary people all over Europe and further afield.

The increasingly brutal and intractable war also has changed Ireland, with almost 120,000 Ukrainians seeking refuge here since the war began. About 84,000 of them mostly women and children, remain in Ireland.

One of those is journalist Liudmyla Bortok, who fled to Cork with the assistance of an Irish colleague, driving across Europe with her elderly father, her teenage son and her cat.

On today’s episode Liudmyla speaks candidly about the personal toll of war, the difficulty caring for vulnerable family members in a time with no instruction manual, the welcome she has received in Ireland, and how Ukraine has dropped down the news agenda over four grinding years of war.

Liudmyla Bortok: Every year we pray for the war to end, and for Russia to leave us alone

'Ireland stands in solidarity with Ukraine' on eve of fourth anniversary of Russian invasion

Four years of Ukraine war: EU leaders battle with Hungary on support

Ukraine is the biggest and most consequential of all the American betrayals

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In recent weeks, the story of Kilkenny man Seamus Culleton has come to the fore as an Irishman living and working in the US who is being detained by the US immigration police ICE.

He has described the conditions in the detention centre as like a "modern-day concentration camp" but, since his story came to the public's attention, reports have emerged relating to Mr Culleton's past including his estranged daughters and cases before the courts.

While he has been granted a temporary reprieve from deportation from the US, Mr Culleton said he would like Taoiseach Micheál Martin to raise his case with US President Donald Trump during his meeting in March for St Patrick’s Day.

Irish Examiner political reporter Tadgh McNally joins the pod to talk about the case and the wider context ahead of the White House visit.

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