"Our friend rang us at 5am and he told us that the war started."
A young couple from Mariupol, Nadiia Otstavnova and Imish Iskanderov, recall the day Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Nadiia says it was "horrific" because they were not prepared.
"Nobody is ready for that. Nobody was ready."
Ms Otstavnova was an English teacher and Mr Iskanderov a volleyball coach. Their house was bombed shortly after the Russian invasion began.
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"We went to the basement and we lived for a week in the basement. There was no water supply, electricity supply or gas supply. There was nothing, and we only had, like small amounts of food."
They were cut off from the outside world in the basement in Mariupol and had no idea how the war was going.
They were without phone or internet connection, but they found some Russian propaganda playing on a radio station.
"They were saying Russia has occupied Ukraine. So the Russians are winners and no more Zelensky," Ms Otstavnova said.
Mr Iskanderov said they heard in some reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was dead and in another report that he had fled Ukraine to Germany.
"We didn't know what's the situation in Ukraine was," he said.
The couple decided they had to escape Mariupol. The city was under siege by Russian forces and they encountered bomb shelling on their journey out of the city.
"Our city was totally destroyed," Mr Iskanderov said.
After two weeks on the road, they decided they would travel to Crimea. Not an easy decision for them, they said, as it is occupied by Russia.
"We didn't want to stay in occupied territory. The propaganda signs and propaganda slogans were throughout the whole of Crimea."
For Ms Otstavnova, this was the second time she had to flee her home. She is originally from a city in eastern Ukraine that was invaded by Russia in 2014.
She had to be treated in hospital for an illness she developed in the harsh conditions in the basement. They eventually made it out of Ukraine and they decided to come to Ireland for language reasons.
"We thank God that we are still alive because it's a lottery. We didn't know if we would be alive or not because we saw lots of dead people around when we escaped Mariupol," Ms Otstavnova said.
They were initially accommodated in a sports centre in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. They said it was an unusual set up, but much better than the basement in Ukraine.
A year on from that dark moment hiding from Russian soldiers in Mariupol, asked whether they still think about it, they said mostly at night.
"When we are dreaming at night, we are seeing shooting, and we are still in Mariupol. We are under bomb shelling and we are still in the basement."
One year later, the couple are living in west Waterford. They were taken in by locals in a small house on their property.
"We are like their neighbours and we just like to have some tea. From time to time, we pop into their house. Sometimes they pop into ours."
They have since got a car and have set up a volleyball club locally for both Ukrainians and Irish people.
Ms Otstavnova said people should learn from their story to be grateful for what you have.
"Nobody has a guarantee in life. Maybe the next day the war starts or your family dies, for example, or, you know, whatever may happen tomorrow, but you need to remember today that you have a good job, a good family and appreciate that."
Speaking on the quay in Dungarvan at a new rest centre for Ukrainians who have recently arrived, Nataliia Sytnyk speaks of her experience having been in the same sports centre when Ireland received its first arrivals from Ukraine in the past year.
Ms Sytnyk went from helping her fellow Ukrainians with translation on a volunteer basis to working with the local council with new arrivals.
"People started to find jobs quite quickly, mostly it's hotels and restaurants. Almost everybody who is 18 plus they are taking English classes and I have very good feedback about the level of these English classes and people really have made progress and I see it and I hear it."
Across the bridge from the rest centre, Victoriia Kotlir is working at the local pharmacy.
"I was a teacher of primary school in Ukraine. We didn't expect so much changes in our life," she said.
On the day Russia invaded Ukraine this time last year, she heard shooting outside and saw military vehicles move through her street in Kherson.
She came to Ireland nearly a year ago with her husband and two teenage children after fleeing southern Ukraine.
She said she will never forget the look in her children's eyes when she woke them up to say the war had started.
"They were so scared."
They are now living in a house with four other Ukrainian families.
"We have a lot of teenagers in our home. Sometimes they are messy, you know, like kids."
Out in Modeligo, a small village in west Waterford, the local community refurbished a vacant parochial house and now two Ukrainian families live there.
One is the Artemenko family; Olena, her two children and her mother.
Ms Artemenko lived a busy and happy life in Ukraine before the war.
"Suddenly it happened and we had to move. We had to go somewhere to save our children. So now we're here. I'm happy that our children are safe now of course."
However, she said living in a rural area has been difficult for the family.
"It's a countryside rural area and it's a little difficult for us. There is no transport here. There is no shop. There is nothing. But we are very grateful for our neighbours, for the local people. Yeah, they support us very much."
Pat Fitzgerald who has led the local community response to refurbish the house said having people live there has "breathed life into a house that has been idle for 15 years."
Ms Artemenko had to leave her husband behind in Kyiv when the family fled. She plans to visit him in March and the family will move back to Ukraine this summer.
"It's very hard for me because we have been living together for 18 years and it’s for the first time that we are separate. We are planning to go home because I can't anymore."
She said she will be emotional when she sees her husband again.
Artemenko’s daughter Anna is attending a local secondary school.
She said that school in Ireland is much easier than in Ukraine, especially in the subject maths. However, she is missing school in Ukraine and will be happy to return to it when they move home this summer.
"I just want to go home," she said.
