They met at Shannon Airport in County Clare on Thursday. Martin cancelled a planned visit to Stormont in order to attend the meeting.

He told Zelensky that he has to look at “alternative approaches to give financial aid to Ukraine”.

“Our commitments… have been frustrated by Hungary’s decision to veto the deployment of the European peace facility fund set up by the European union,” he explained.

Zelensky is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on sharing his country’s mineral resources.

He made a brief stop at the Irish airport on the way to this meeting.

“We discussed issues around a sustainable and durable peace settlement,” Martin said.

“We made it clear that we would push very strongly for an accelerated timeline in terms of Ukrainian membership of the European Union,” he said.

He said Zelensky “was very thankful… for Ireland’s sustained support for the Ukrainian people… as they battle through this terrible war”.

He said Ireland could help by taking part in initiatives to help feed children in Ukraine and is looking into supporting financially the use of robotic drones to help bring back soldiers who are injured.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that Zelensky said he was delighted to be in Ireland and to meet with the Taoiseach.

He thanked the Irish people for the support they have offered Ukrainian citizens who have been forced to flee from conflict.

At the end of 2024 almost 80,000 Ukrainian refugees were still living in the Republic of Ireland, according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office.

Earlier this week, Ireland pledged to increase financial humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Martin said that Ireland would “contribute more financially on all fronts and in all areas”.

About 6,500 properties in Northern Ireland are still without power one week on from the storm.

An NIE spokesperson said NIE Networks is not issuing messages in relation to compensation and warned customers not to “share personal details or click URLs”.

“We ask that customers do not engage, block and report the suspicious number,” said NIE.

They added that their customer centre continue to receive calls relating to potential compensation payments, but for now their priority remains on “supporting those people who remain without power”.

At its peak 30% of all premises in Northern Ireland had their power disconnected.

The former MP Francie Molloy, who has been without electricity since last Friday, said customers have been “failed”.

NIE future networks director, Ronan McKeown, has said the company has a “very robust emergency plan” in place.

Mr Molloy, who lives in Moy, County Tyrone, told BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme that he fears he will be 10 days without electricity.

“I am sitting in pitch black with a torch,” he said.

Talking about how politicians have been responding in the aftermath of the storm, he said: “I don’t think enough people are speaking up.”

Mr Molloy said that a “company like NIE should be prepared”.

“They knew this storm was coming.”

Mr McKeown described the aftermath of the storm as “a serious challenge” and said NIE is “working tirelessly” to restore power for customers.

“There are hard yards here ahead of us this weekend but we are committed to making sure everyone’s on by Monday night,” he said.

He also said he empathises with people who are still without electricity, but said his organisation is “prioritising as best we can” and “working extremely hard right around the clock”.

Speaking from a road in Derrymacash, outside Lurgan, Mr McKeown said: “We’re into the nitty gritty here in terms of the amount of faults we still have to repair.”

Annie Mullan and her husband Vincent run Butterlope social and eco farm near Plumbridge, in County Tyrone.

They were without power and mains water for six days but were able to use a well on the farm as back-up, but neighbours were less fortunate.

“There was some water being delivered to the village and then around the houses,” she told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme.

“I think that’s quite difficult without water – we have our own well system and we also collect rain water for our livestock.”

Having no electricity meant they had to feed those animals earlier, with the benefit of natural light.

Ms Mullan said that without wi-fi they felt “cut off”.

“We have no mobile connection here and, once the power goes out, we have no way of communicating with anyone,” she said.

On a positive note, she said, the couple and their three sons spent more time together, doing things like playing cards, and she didn’t miss the hum of the fridge.

Their electricity was finally restored late on Thursday night.

Fibrus: ‘We can’t provide accurate picture’

A number of people in Northern Ireland have been unable to access broadband in their homes since the storm.

In a statement to BBC News NI, broadband provider Fibrus said: “We can’t provide an accurate picture until all power outages are resolved.

“We are working closely with NIE as we continue to identify faults and restore service as quickly as possible.”

Virgin Media has said there are no ongoing outages or issues to report on its network in Northern Ireland.

Openreach said they “know how frustrating it is to lose your broadband and phone services, and we’re working as fast as we can.

“But the reality is that some repairs, like pole replacements, are very complex and will take several days.”

Fibrus customer Harry Allen, who lives about three miles outside the County Londonderry village of Claudy, said he lost connectivity on the day of the storm.

He said despite numerous attempts to contact Fibrus since, it had been “virtually impossible”.

“I have VoIP – voice over internet protocol – with them for my calls, so basically I can’t make any landline calls,” he told BBC News NI.

“My mobile service is pretty bad, so some days you would have service for your phone, and other days you wouldn’t.

“It’s difficult, I have a lot of hospital appointments and trying to keep in contact with the hospital and GP and whatever is difficult.

“I was trying to buy an item for one of my grandsons’ birthdays and I’ve only been able to get it done today through data with my mobile provider.”

Mr Allen said his contract with Fibrus expires in mid-February.

“Am I going to be connected at all before my contract runs out?” he said.

“Am I going to have to pay for the time I was disconnected?

“Somebody needs to tell us what’s going on at the very least.”

‘No communication’

Erin Hanratty, who lives in the small village of Eglish outside Dungannon, County Tyrone, said communication from the company has been “woeful”.

Her broadband went down at 06:00 GMT on the day of the storm.

She told BBC News NI that some of her neighbours had been reconnected since, but the majority have not.

“Each person on the street has been told a different thing; some have been told that we are all connected to the same mast and others have been told we’re all on different lines, but we are all on the same street,” she said.

“I feel for the people taking calls from customers because I know they are under pressure,” Ms Hanratty said.

“I have four children; my son has GCSE coursework to send in, so he has to stay longer in school; my other child, who’s 11, has additional needs, and they can’t use their iPad that they need for stimulation and learning.”

Ms Hanratty said she also lost connection during Storm Darragh, adding that she is paying for a service that she is not getting.

“In this area the phone signal and 4G aren’t great, so you really do feel cut off. And it’s just the lack of communication; it’s a complete cold front.”

Extra assistance

NIE has said that since the storm, 350 engineers have been brought to Northern Ireland from Great Britain and Europe, including some from Finland.

Meanwhile, a generator and trailer was stolen from NI Water from a site near Omagh.

Northern Ireland had its highest gusts in 27 years during the storm.

In the Republic of Ireland, there are 74,000 customers still without power, down from a peak of 768,000.

Water supplies are returning to “normal levels of service” for most customers in the Republic, Uisce Éireann said.

A man died after a tree fell on the car he was driving in Raphoe, County Donegal, on Friday.

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) has brought in 350 additional engineers from across the UK and Europe to assist local teams in repairing damage.

On the outskirts of rural towns, large trees that collapsed under the weight of the storm still litter the side of many country roads.

Those in the Republic of Ireland are also still feeling the effects, with 56,000 properties still without power after about 750,000 were cut off during the peak of the disruption.

BBC News NI has been looking at two areas badly affected by record-breaking winds and the subsequent clean-up operation.

The presence of maintenance workers trying to restore power lines or clean up debris is still a common sight, but scars left by Storm Éowyn are currently dominating one structure that towers over the skyline of Dungannon.

Scaffolding blankets the 150-year-old St Patrick’s Church on the edge of the town centre.

CCTV footage from the grounds of the Catholic church on the morning of the storm shows huge roof slates falling from more than 100ft.

As a result, the church remains closed and is undergoing extensive repair work.

“Thank God nobody was hurt or injured by falling debris; we’ve been lucky in that respect,” said parish priest Dean Donaghy.

The church dates back to 1867, and much of the wind damage relates to the ridge section in the upper part of the external roof.

“Some of the old decorative pieces from that section have also come off, and they’re quite large, about four feet high and five feet long, so that’s extremely dangerous,” Dean Donaghy said.

As the storm passed, one of the local parishioners went into the church to assess the internal damage.

They captured footage on their phone of a steady stream of water trickling down some of the large pillars that support the roof of the church.

Dean Donaghy added: “Unfortunately, some of the roof has been punctured and fractured, which has led to some water getting through, and certainly when there was a lot of rain earlier in the week, there was some water damage.”

The church is not open this weekend as a result of the storm damage, and people are being signposted to neighbouring parishes for alternative mass times.

“We’ll just have to wait and see how long the temporary patching work will take to make the building usable again,” he said.

Staffan Lindeman is one of 22 engineers from Finland who arrived in County Fermanagh on Tuesday to help fix power lines.

He expects to be here for the next 10 to 14 days.

He told BBC News NI that he has previously repaired storm damage in Norway and Sweden, but Northern Ireland is the furthest he has travelled to help.

He said the damage was “pretty normal in our standards”.

“We have big trees also coming down in storms, so this is usual stuff for us.”

Tree surgeons have also been drafted in to help cut fallen trees and provide access to fallen power lines and damaged equipment.

Mr Lindeman said he and his colleagues have enjoyed the hospitality and camaraderie of the local teams.

“It’s been great; I love it, the people, everything; everything is nice.

“The cooperation with NIE is fantastic; everything is top notch.”

Having fixed one fault, he collected more equipment that had been flown in from Finland and then headed out to the next job.

One of the lines being repaired on Friday had been damaged by fallen trees in Florence Court Forest.

More than a dozen engineers and tree cutters from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Finland worked the entire day to reconnect two properties.

The scale of the storm damage means there is plenty of work still to do before supplies are fully restored.

The fire at the premises on the Craigmore Road just outside the County Londonderry town, began at 02:13 GMT on Friday morning.

It was dealt with by 10:30 GMT on Saturday.

At the height of the blaze more than 80 firefighters and personnel were involved in bringing it under control.

Residents were urged to keep their windows and doors closed due to “a large plume of smoke”.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for the fire service said: “Our firefighters worked tirelessly throughout the duration of the incident to ensure that the fire was brought under control and extinguished.

“We would like to thank the public for their patience whilst we dealt with the incident.”

It was confirmed that there were no injuries as a result of the fire.

It follows the coldest night of this winter so far after temperatures fell to -7C in Katesbridge in County Down.Temperatures on Wednesday night are expected to be equally as low, especially in inland areas.

The Met Office said that “showers of rain and sleet near coasts, and snow inland, will continue to affect the north and west of Northern Ireland this evening, overnight and into Thursday morning.”As surfaces fall below freezing, this will lead to some icy stretches on untreated surfaces, while a few centimetres of fresh snow could affect some areas, mainly places above about 100 metres.”An earlier yellow warning for snow and ice came into force at 15:00 GMT on Tuesday and expires at midday on Wednesday.

Claudy businessman Peter Eakin said there appeared to be a lack of proper planning for the conditions.”Snow was forecast to come and we know that salting doesn’t take away snow but there was ice on the road before the snow came and if the salters had gone out and given a wee bit of preparation, I think it would have made conditions a lot easier.”There was no road service to be seen, the roads were blocked, there were vehicles stuck – people, in general, just think the rural area is just forgotten about.”The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said roads considered to be at risk had been salted overnight.”However road users are advised to exercise caution when travelling, particularly when driving on untreated roads,” the department added.

The £25 payment is made to people living in areas where the temperature is recorded or forecast to be 0°C or below for seven consecutive days.

Overnight temperatures have fallen below freezing in the past week, and will do so again in the coming nights.

The Met Office has issued a new yellow weather warning for snow and ice which is in effect until 11:00 GMT on Tuesday.

The cold weather payments are made automatically to those who get a qualifying benefit, and people living in these areas do not need to do anything to claim the money.

The Met Office’s yellow warning for Northern Ireland, which began at 15:00 GMT on Monday, warns of rain, sleet, and snow showers which will lead to icy stretches in untreated areas.

It said a slight covering of snow is expected in some places, and perhaps up to 5cm of snow on the hills towards the northern west, including the Sperrins.

Due to the nature of showers, not everywhere will see the wintry conditions.

Belfast International Airport has said it deeply regrets the “frustration and inconvenience” caused to passengers on Sunday night who “had to wait an unacceptable length of time to disembark their aircraft and to collect their luggage”.

The airport said these delays were caused by the knock-on effects of the severe weather “which impacted the airlines’ handling agent Swissport’s resource”.

It added that airport staff on the ground were deployed to assist Swissport alongside their existing responsibilities to minimise any impact.

The airport said that those passengers who were unable to retrieve luggage on Sunday should contact Swissport directly.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) received a report that a white Peugeot Partner van had “driven at” a commercial premises on North Street at about 21:10 GMT.

It was reported that a male got out of the van and set the vehicle on fire. He then made off from the scene, running down Unity Walk.The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue attended the scene and extinguished the fire.

Smoke damage was caused to the premises.

Police have appealed for anyone with information, or dashcam footage of the incident, to contact them.

The Met Office issued an alert, which will be in place between 17:00 GMT on Thursday and 10:00 GMT on Friday.

The warning will be in place for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry and Tyrone.The Met Office has said icy surfaces could lead to difficult travel conditions.

There may be some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycling paths and conditions could lead to an increased risk of injuries from slips and falls.

As the cold weather continues, NI Water has reminded the public to be aware of the risk of frozen pipes, as they pose a risk to properties and possessions.

Advice includes wrapping your pipes and water tanks up, fixing dripping taps, knowing how to turn off your property’s stop tap, checking your central heating boiler has been serviced and leaving the heating on low if you are going away.

In the Republic of Ireland, forecaster Met Éireann has issued a low temperature and ice warning for the country.

The warning will be in place from 18:00 local time on Thursday to 11:00 on Friday.

The forecaster warned that conditions will be very cold with widespread frost and ice as temperatures fall to -3 degrees or below in many areas.

Gardaí (Irish police) and emergency services were called to the incident at a residence in Cluain Fada, New Ross, shortly after 11:00 local time.

The man, who was named locally as John O’Connor, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

PGardaí said that following a post-mortem examination, carried out on Wednesday, they are treating his death as murder.

The results of the post-mortem are not being released to the public for operational reasons.

Two men were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the incident.

One man in his 30s remains in custody, while the second man has been released without charge.

An examination of the scene by the Garda Technical Bureau is continuing.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses or anyone with camera footage to contact them.

The Met Office alert came into effect at 06:00 GMT, lasting until 14:00.

Gusts up to 50mph (80km/h) had been expected across many areas, with warnings that winds could potentially reach 65mph (104km/h) in a few exposed areas.

In other parts of the UK, warnings of rain, snow and wind have been issued.

The weather has led to the cancellation of some New Year’s Eve celebrations, including Hogmanay in Edinburgh.

In the Republic of Ireland, a yellow rain warning has been issued for counties Cork and Kerry.

It came into effect at 06:00 local time on Tuesday and is due to last until 06:00 on Wednesday.