Athy man bravely rushes into burning building to save Lou Lou the puppy

An Athy man whose beloved restaurant has been gutted in a fire over the weekend bravely rescued a puppy from the blaze.

During the early hours of Saturday morning, February 2, Jonathan Flynn, became alerted that there was a fire at Samsara Café, Leinster St, opened by his partner Jackie Rowan,  and himself 18 months ago.

Realising that Rhona Curtis, a tenant in the apartment was still inside, he began frantically knocking on her door.

When she opened the door, she informed him that a  bull-dog, only six months old, was still inside.

Bravely Mr Flynn rushed into the burning apartment and rescued the Lou-Lou the  puppy.

He said: "The puppy was on the top landing, just standing there choking. They are all okay now."

Devastated by the fire that has caused extensive interior damage to the much loved Samsara Café, he is relieved that Rhona and her dog were saved.

Tributes are being to the owners of Samsara Café, for running a 'fantastic restaurant' at Leinster St, Athy. Hopes are being expressed by locals that the business will be back and running soon.

There is extensive damage to the interior. Labour Cllr Aoife Breslin said: "My heart goes out to them, they have been working morning, noon and night. The community will rally behind them."

A social media statement said: "Saturday was one of the most devastating days of our lives. To see everything we have worked so hard for and put our lives into turned into just melted plastic and ash is one of the most heartbreaking things ever. We have no words to describe how we're feeling. This restaurant has become our baby, our livelihood, our home, our life! And to see it now burned to ashes is literally breaking our hearts. This may sound dramatic to a lot of people but losing this is like losing a family member. Our families are as heart broken as we are. We all literally built it with our own hands and have so many memories there. Thankfully Rhona from the apartment above and her beautiful dog LouLou got out safely. Nobody was hurt, and we know that is the main and most important thing of course, but it does not dull the pain in our chests any less. Samsara was never just bricks and water to us it was always so much more. It was our home. It became a meeting spot for our families and friends. We often found ourselves there until all hours even when there was no work to do. We were always so proud when anyone would ask who decorated it and we could confidently answer "we did". To see people take pictures of our food and our decor always made us burst with pride."