Cat escaping the hell of Mariupol gets help from Terryglass man

It has been a testing time for Alice from Mariupol. She spent two weeks living in a rolled-up carpet in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The lengthy stay was as a result of waiting to fly to Dublin and be reunited with her family.

  Her only companion in recent weeks has been the Terryglass native Jeffrey Kent. Since 2019, Jeffrey has been Honorary Consul of Ireland to (post-Soviet) Georgia where he represents Irish people. His sister Caroline Haslam has lived in Portumna for the past thirteen years.
Alice witnessed the early weeks of the war in Ukraine when Russian soldiers forcibly relocated thousands of Mariupol residents to Russia. Those who had the means could escape via neighbouring countries by travelling over land through Russia. One of their destinations was Georgia, but this country did not have the facilities to house an influx of refugees. Nevertheless, it served as an important departure hub for the displaced people. From there they could travel to countries better equipped to provide accommodation.
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee announced an immediate decision to allow Ukrainians to travel to Ireland without visas but Alice still worried about her official documents. Despite these issues she was assured that leniency would be shown because of the complex situation. Then just as she was about to board her flight, disaster struck. It turned out that the family booking did not include her. A desperate call went through to Jeffrey at 3am. Could he help? The family has an Irish connection through their father who is employed by a Dublin company as a software developer and had worked for them remotely from Mariupol.
They did not want to leave Alice behind but there was no other choice. Jeffrey offered his office as temporary accommodation until he could help get her to Ireland. Alice found it hard to understand what was going on and she just wanted to be with her family. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait too long. After a fortnight in her temporary home Jeffrey was delighted to help her catch a Dublin flight in an artistically decorated cat-carrier. Once she’s back with the people that mean the most to her, she’ll be able to tell them all about her time living in a diplomat’s office.