An Irish woman who fled the fighting in Sudan this week has spoken of her family's relief after arriving home.
Kathy McLoughlin, from Co Mayo, travelled to Ireland via Djibouti and Budapest, with her husband Rami and their two children.
This afternoon they were welcomed back to Ballindine by their family and friends.
Speaking after they completed a journey of over 8,000 kilometres, Ms McLoughlin said: "There were definitely some moments when we didn’t know if we were going to make it."
She said one of the most frightening experiences was when her husband was held at gunpoint by soldiers, as they tried to escape from their home for the first time, last weekend.
"I was screaming at them, 'we work here, we have no arms' and suddenly the mood changed. They put down the guns and came up to me and said 'sister, sister, don’t worry’.
"It was the scariest moment in some ways but in other ways, when we were leaving the second time, there was not a soldier in sight and there wasn’t much shooting, but there was sniper fire... you just felt, at any point, any of us could have been shot for no reason."
Ms McLoughlin said that in the midst of such upheaval, her family has experienced the kindness of friends and strangers, right throughout their journey.
Read more: Latest Sudan news
"People in their own moment of danger were thinking of me and my family. Department of Foreign Affairs officials, French soldiers, people in Budapest, and all our friends here at home, they've all supported us.
"They helped us survive and helped our emotional wellbeing.
"Even as I was passing through the airport in Budapest, an Irish lady stopped me and asked me if I was the person she saw on the news last Sunday. People are there for each other, and that’s what I’ve really learned from this experience."
Her husband Rami Ata Algeed said the family saw dead bodies on the street as they made their initial escape to the outskirts of Khartoum: "We reached an army area, where there were some soldiers, and they gave us directions to go the safest way.
"We found a place where people were sitting outside and selling tea and we realised we were then in less danger.
"Decisions were taken every hour, based on changing information, we couldn’t make a final decision until a friend of ours called us and told us to go the French Embassy within 40 minutes, to get on a plane out of the country."
After an emotional week, laden with both anxiety and relief, the family is now planning on relaxing, before seven-year-old Lochlan and four-year-old Liam start school locally next week.
In their grandparents’ house this afternoon, there was a sense of celebration, as neighbours gathered for an impromptu welcome home party.
After cake and chocolate, the children sat down to share their stories and catch up with Granny Catherine and Grandad John.
They have spent the week waiting and hoping for news of their daughter’s movements.
Now, all concerned are breathing a massive sigh of relief, after the completion of a fraught and frightening journey.
