Carlow medical student Racheal Diyaolu says it’s an honour to be recognised by her county.
The 19-year-old who fled war-torn Ukraine in late February was presented with a certificate by the Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council yesterday.
Locals had keenly followed her journey after it emerged that she was trapped with other students in a hostel in Sumy when the Russians invaded.
Speaking to KCLR News Racheal said the level of support for her safe return was humbling; “I was really happy, I felt really honoured as well because it is a big thing to be recognised by your county and I do love Carlow, I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s my town, I love my town a lot so to know that the town is behind me and they were recognising my return home it was a great feeling, yeah”.
On her return to Ireland Minister Simon Harris had pledged that Racheal and others would be able to pursue their studies at home.
However, she’s not yet sure how that will work out, saying; “We have been in contact with the Department and they have let us know that the Deans with the medical institutes are the ones that are mainly making decisions at this point and they’re just trying to outline the best way to integrate all of us students who will be allowed to continue as well as Ukrainian students also so there’s not much updates but we do know that they are working on it and will let us know as soon as they know what the next steps will be”.
