‘So happy to be home’: Passengers of second plane from Dubai return to Ireland

There were celebrations and relief for a second night in a row at Dublin Airport with the arrival of the first planes from Dubai since conflict broke out in the Middle East.

People who had been working in the United Arab Emirates for several years as well as some holidaymakers were among the hundreds who landed home on Thursday evening.

Dubai has been hit by missiles amid the conflict between Iran and the US and Israel, including explosions at the city’s airport and the Fairmont Hotel, and it has also been impacted by widespread air space closures in the Middle East.

There are an estimated 24,400 Irish citizens in the Gulf region.

There will be further direct flights from the Middle East landing in Dublin on Friday, including an Irish Government charter flight from Oman which is expected to transport around 280 passengers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee expressed hope that hundreds, if not more than 1,000, will arrive in Dublin before the end of the week.

Dympna Mackin, from Mayobridge, Co Down, who had been in Dubai with her husband to celebrate her 40th birthday, walked through arrivals to hugs from family waiting to see her.

“Unbelievable. I’d missed the children so much. I’m shaking, it’s good to be home,” she said.

“We arrived in Dubai last Thursday, we were due home on Monday, this was the third flight that we’d tried to get home.

“We were in Dubai for my 40th birthday… I don’t want to get into it because it was traumatising.”

Colette Cummins, from Malahide, who had been visiting family in Dubai, was hugged by work colleagues as she came through arrivals.

“I’m so happy to be home. We were supposed to come on Tuesday but the flight was cancelled,” she said.

“It’s great to be home, my sister is not so lucky, she is still there.

“Scary at the beginning. It had eased off but back again today because we got news on the flight of alerts that missiles were coming in again. The situation is escalating again.”

Megan O’Riordan, from Co Meath, who has worked in software sales in Dubai for three years, was greeted by her father Michael.

“Daily life is normal, everyone is still working, we’re just working remotely and school is happening at home. The only difference is the missiles and interceptions – when you see those it is a little bit scary,” she said.

“Other than that, nothing else has changed, life goes on as normal over there. The government have been really good, the embassy has been really good.”

Among those on the first flight from Dubai, which landed in Dublin late on Wednesday, was Anna Callaghan from Donegal.

“My mum’s come all the way from Donegal, that’s why I’m a little overwhelmed. I live in Dublin so I wasn’t expecting to see her,” she said, as the pair embraced again. Her mother Patricia responded: “I’m just glad she’s on the ground now.”

Ms Callaghan described a stressful and scary situation.

“We were seeing and hearing bangs and explosions, last night in particular it was jet after jet after jet going overhead, and then we heard the US consulate was hit and that really scared everyone,” she said.

“This is my fourth flight that I rebooked and I didn’t think I was going to get out.”

Elaine Gleeson from Limerick also surprised a family member, turning up with a balloon and flowers to welcome home sister Norita Geary.

“Everyone clapped when the plane landed, and cheered, it was just magic,” Ms Geary said.

“I didn’t expect to see her (Elaine) because I told her I was getting a lift home,” she added, hugging her sister.

“Dublin is the most beautiful city in the world.”

Gina Quinn from Dublin described hearing a national alarm in the middle of the night which woke everyone up.

“It was very frightening, you just didn’t know, and getting information on when you might be able to fly home was nigh impossible. The airlines were great but they were inundated,” she said.

“I think everyone on the flight coming in tonight is absolutely delighted, just hope that everybody else gets home quickly because it’s a very uncertain situation.

“It’s fantastic to be home.”

Rob McClean from Greystones, who had been transiting through Dubai from India, said it was a massive relief to be home.

“I was in the airport on Saturday night when the explosion happened so we were evacuated from there which was pretty tough,” he said.

“It’s been nerve-wracking for my family.”

There were also a number of passengers from across Europe who took the flight to Dublin in desperation to flee the Middle East.

Alex Anderson, a French-American who lives in Frankfurt, described “huge relief” and said it was very emotional to land in Dublin.

“It was really difficult. I was a transfer passenger, I was supposed to be going on to Frankfurt on February 28. When I was coming in from Malaysia we actually saw the missile trails, but we didn’t know what it was then, just thought it was planes,” he said.

“It was really shocking when we landed and found out what had happened.

“I moved as quickly as I could out of the terminal building, and an hour later it got hit. Then there was the long wait of days, hearing thumps, anti-missile stuff, that was nerve-wracking, they definitely had a lot of drones coming over.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a full-blown war zone like you would see in Gaza, but it’s getting close.

“It’s a huge relief to land in Ireland, and a bit emotional. Tomorrow morning I’ll fly back home to my wife and kids in Frankfurt.”

Andy Barnes from Hertfordshire and Andy Teasdale from Cumbria said they had spent their time in hotel basements in Dubai since their flight home was cancelled on Saturday.

“We were at the airport from 3.30am, there were no flights available but we went on the waiting list and ended up getting on the last flight out,” they said.

They had been staying in the area around the marina and Mr Barnes said: “We saw a lot of interceptions, Saturday night was really hairy.

“We were out having a pizza sat out by the pool, and heard bangs going off, which we later found out were interceptions – you could see it all in the side – and then we saw smoke coming from the Fairmont Hotel.”