A remembrance ceremony will be held in Longford later this week to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The county is currently hosting several hundred refugees in homes, hotels and centers who were forced to flee the conflict over the last year.
People from across the region are being invited to join members of the Longford Ukrainian Community in marking the date this Friday at St Mel's Cathedral.
A special evening of music, dance, photography and art will be held from 6pm.
Those attending will also hear the story of how one refugee escaped the town of Bucha, one of the locations where Russian Forces are accused of killing civilians.
Tiernan Dolan is a former veteran aid worker with GOAL, he's put together the event in conjunction with local Ukrainian refugees.
The Longford man says the event will be a show of solidarity:
'We will have a Ukrainian choir and they are called the Main Street Singers because they are all living on Main Street Longford.
We then have some Irish dancers and the children's choir singing because an awful lot of this is about the children who suffer so much .
We want to show the innocent side of both Longford and Ukraine.'
Alice, A Ukrainian woman who was forced to flee the country in the months after the invasion, has praised the people of Longford for their warmth and kindness:
'I never imagined people here would be so friendly and nice. I feel very honored to stay amongst the people of Longford .
I came here 11 months ago after the war started and i was forced to flee the war with my three kids and later on my 70 year old mother joined us here.
I never could imagine that i would be forced to flee my home with my kids after we were woken up by the sound of explosions.'
