A chance meeting on an Italian beach led Andriana Tsankova (45) to uproot her life and move to Ireland – for the first time.

In 2007 Tsankova and her husband, Miroslav, had moved to Italy from their native Bulgaria, to try and find work but they didn’t have much success.

“I was cleaning houses, different places, very simple, very down the bottom. My husband was working over there in a petrol station. But if I be honest, we didn’t feel that happy. We didn’t like the life over there,” Tsankova said.

One day to try and cheer herself up Tsankova went to a local beach.

“I stayed at the beach for a few hours alone. I wasn’t feeling happy at all. I said to myself, what am I doing? My husband is working and I’m on the beach by myself.”

While waiting for the bus home Tsankova overheard a woman named Albena speaking Bulgarian.

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