Has your friend looked at Ryanair's terms and conditions
here:
In particular under Flight Cancellations and Schedule Changes:
If your flight is cancelled or before the date of travel, is rescheduled so as to depart more than three hours before or after the original departure time then you will be entitled to a travel credit or full refund of all monies paid if the alternative flight/s offered are not suitable to you and you do not travel.
If I was your friend I would go back and tell them that this is a change more than 3 hours and it's unacceptable and ask for a full refund. No need to mention why it's unacceptable and don't mention connecting flights - they think that their comment on connecting flights overrules this.