The pandemic changed the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people in an instant.
''We'd be flying to the US and around Europe, but now I'm ploughing a field,'' Ciaran O'Regan says from the cab of a tractor in a field he has just ploughed in Ladysbridge, East Cork.
He has been a pilot with Aer Lingus for the last five years, which he saw as a passion more than a job.
However, now he is working as a farming contractor.
"Well, it's more of a necessity, I have to do it to supplement my income because I've got bills to pay like everyone else," he adds.
''I'm very happy to have something else to do but there's a lot of people not as fortunate," he says.
The aviation industry has been hit particularly hard by Covid-19 restrictions and Ciaran is concerned about its future.
He is also worried about whether he will ever get back in the air again.
"That is a reality. Facing into a second summer without revenue. Airlines are businesses at the end of the day.
"I'm not sure if we can survive a second consecutive summer with no revenue without meaningful support from the government like our European counterparts," he says.
''We're an island nation, we need to have aviation up and running. It's not just something you can switch back on overnight. It's coming on to a year now, there are pilots whose qualifications will be null and void because they haven't flown," he adds.
"It's just you miss what you love doing. Overnight, it changed. It's not something any of us want. A lot of people are being forced into retirement without having a last flight. It's tough on people," he saiys.
For now, Ciaran continues to supplement his income by farming.
While working the soil he is grounded but still aiming skywards.
"I'd love to be back in the air, I'd love it. I can't wait."
In a workshop in Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, the radio is tuned to RTÉ Radio One.
Drill in hand, Robert Mizzell is in the middle of making a garden bench.
A well-known country singer before the pandemic, he was used to playing up to four gigs per week.
"We were living the life, we had as many gigs as we wanted. We were turning down work. Like a light switch it just disappeared," he says.
"All of a sudden that stream of income shut down," he adds.
As a result, he started building and selling garden furniture.
He says it keeps him active, but he admits it is not enough to cover the mortgage.
"I've been working since I was 15. I'm not the kind of person who can sit at home," he says.
It is a very different job to what he has spent the last 20 years doing.
"Whenever I step back onto the stage I'll once again be a singer. But since all this time has passed, today as I'm standing here, I don't think of myself as a singer because I'm not.
"I will be again but today I'm just a guy making garden furniture," he adds.
The lure of the stage though is hard to shake.
"I'm in here, it's a solitary game I'm playing now. I'm on my own most of the time but every now and then I can hear the crowds and see the lights and it makes me want to get back. But as I speak now, I'm content."
He is hoping to back on stage before the end of the year.
In Ratoath, Co Meath Marina O'Callaghan has just put her laptop away for the day.
Her livelihood has changed since the pandemic too.
"I always had a passion to work for myself. In my sixth-year yearbook, I wrote that I wanted to own my own business," she says.
Six years ago she set up Stylicious, a hair and make up service aimed at weddings.
Marina says business was flying up until Covid-19 intervened.
Once restrictions kicked in, it was clear that her work would be severely impacted.
"Our last wedding was 12 March, 2020" she says.
She received the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for a while.
"But more so, I've been working since I was 16, throughout school and college so doing nothing is not me," she says.
Last year, she put out some feelers for work and received a positive response.
She now works as a programme administrator for a training company.
"I was concerned I hadn't been in the business world for such a long time that it would be difficult. When you're working for yourself, the only person to answer to is yourself," she says.
"But the team I work with is so fantastic so you don't feel like you're answering to somebody," she adds.
However, she does miss her wedding business.
"In a way, it is great not having to put on all the make up every day. There are days where I'd have weddings and I'd be leaving here at 4am," she says.
"But no, I'm really enjoying it. I miss my brides and weddings and miss being creative but I guess I'm being creative now in a different way where I am now," she adds.
