From legal eagle to fitness instructor, and from Ukraine to Castlerea, GG finds new life and new career in County Roscommon

A Ukrainian woman has been lauded for her contribution to the community through her health and wellbeing classes, with one of her class members describing her as “the most wonderful character” with “frank honesty and stylish flair”.

Galyna Maiorova, better known as GG, fled Kyiv for Ireland in March of 2022 with her two children, Philip (8) and Evgeniya (4), as tension between Russia and Ukraine came to a boiling point.

Three years on from the life-changing moment of the Russian invasion for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, GG and her daughter have settled into Irish life (Philip returned home to live with family in Ukraine).

She now runs highly praised step aerobics and yoga classes from the Old Mill in Castlerea with up to 22 people attending her classes at a time and some members losing up to 15kg after just a month of attending classes.

GG was a fully qualified barrister in her home country, but between the retraining period and the language barrier, she had little interest in pursuing her profession in Ireland.

Instead she wanted to turn her focus to her new passion of fitness. She had earned various certificates in Ukraine, qualifying her as a fitness instructor.

Local gyms reached out to her with employment opportunities but she could not commit to a full time job because of childcare. Instead she and her partner, Raimonds, got a good deal on a unit at the Old Mill from where she hosts her classes and Raimonds runs his IT repairs business.

Casting her mind back to March of 2022, she described how their lives were changed forever in a matter of weeks.

“It was a crazy experience. It was two weeks non-stop and after that we decided to move. We could just take one bag, 20kg. So it was all for the children and one pair of jeans for myself. It was the first time in my life I had everything, but I couldn’t take it.”

Upon arriving in Ireland, she and her children lived with a family in Tibohine for their first six weeks, before moving to Ballaghaderreen for nine months. She now resides in Frenchpark.

What stood out for her was the kindness of the people within the county.

“A lot of people came to me and gave me something, it was like a queue to the house, ‘we want to help’. I started to be better and better every day because of the people.”

Raimonds moved to Ireland from Latvia in 2008 and works as an IT specialist, which is how the pair first met. A neighbour of GG’s in Tibohine put her in contact with Raimonds when her phone broke, on the understanding he was Polish, and the two may share a language.

As it happens Poland and Ukraine do not share the same secondary language, which disappointed GG, but when she realised he was Latvian they were able to communicate in their shared second language of Russian.

Despite living in the country for less than three years, GG has excellent English and her two children picked up the language even quicker than she did.

Most of GG’s family still remain in Ukraine. Her brother, father and her grandmother, up until her passing in July, still live in Kyiv, with her sister living in the city of Zaporizhzhia/Zaporozhye in the Oblast region, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022 and suffered at least 57 civilian deaths due to Russian attacks in September and October of that year.

She said her family’s mindset has been “changed forever” due to the war.

“They can drive sometimes and see bombs very close. It’s like a movie but it’s not a movie and they are very scared.”

GG and Evgeniya returned to Kyiv for two weeks in August so Evgeniya could receive medical treatment, and she saw first-hand for the first time the impact the war had on her family.

“There was a loud bang on the door somewhere and everyone ducked and I was like it’s just a door, but that’s their minds, when you could see something terrible. I think they will never be fine now, never get right after something like that, but hopefully it will stop.”

During their two weeks back in Kyiv they had no power, which made for uncomfortable conditions in the 40 degree plus heat with no air conditioning. Food was also scarce as nothing could be refrigerated and there was a military curfew in place at 11 p.m. every night.

“We were on the eighth floor, no electricity, no chargers and you just sit in darkness and hear the sirens. It was the worst day for Evgeniya, she couldn’t eat or drink and she couldn’t understand why.”

Raimonds pointed out that GG’s family can now differentiate between the different types of Russian bombs, using the Kiznhal ballistic missile as an example, comparing their noise to screamers released at Halloween.

In her new life in Ireland, GG appreciates how “relaxed” the people are here. The moment she returned from Kyiv to Ireland in August proved to her she had found her new home.

“After we arrived to the airport in Ireland I saw a man working and thought ‘Oh he’s smiling!’. Finally we are at home,” she remarked.

If you are interested in attending any of GG’s classes she can be contacted at 087 9579343, on her Facebook page Fitness & Wellbeing with GG or on Instagram @fitness_with_gg.