Taoiseach in Kyiv: ‘We admire you and we are with you – you are very much in our hearts’

Taoiseach Micheal Martin with local officials viewing the damage to buildings in the city of Irpin, Ukraine, as the premier visits the region to reiterate Irish solidarity with the Ukrainian authorities in the face of the Russian invasion. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has thanked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for welcoming him to Kyiv, and has assured him that "Ireland will be with you every step of the way" as the country aims towards achieving European Union candidate status.

Here is his speech, reproduced in full: