'It was a very anxious journey' - Irish student arrives safely back on home soil

Irish student Racheal Diyaolu has arrived safely back in Ireland after days trying to escape Ukraine.

The medical student was helped out of the country that has been ravaged by a Russian invasion by two Scotsmen Gary Taylor and Joseph McCarthy.

Emotions were understandably high when the 19 year old was finally reunited with her family at Dublin at Dublin Airport.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Racheal said she was "Really overwhelmed but really happy".

Moments after the tearful reunion Racheal told RTÉ News that she was “really overwhelmed but really happy”.

Racheal had been studying medicine in university in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy along with other international students and was stranded there since the Russian invasion began on 24 February.

Her family has described the last few weeks as a "nightmare". Speaking about his daughter, Racheal's father Taiwo Diyaolu said:

"I'm proud of her. With the kind of stuff she's made of she's very resilient, very peaceful and very positive.

"That's what saw her through and I'm very happy that she's back." 

The Carlow native endured a three-day cross country car journey to reach the border to Romania

Racheal said:

"It was a very anxious journey.

"We had a lot of really bad roads, things went wrong along the way, but we stayed positive and knew that once we were out of Sumy, it was home strait.

"We knew we just had to go a little bit further and we'd be back home soon."

Racheal can now continue her studying here in Ireland, saying it was "such a relief"

After her perilous journey, Racheal said the first thing she'll do once she's home is sleep.

"I'm so tired.

"I'll spend as much time with the family as I can, try and catch up on the last three and a half months, and just get some rest."