“I thought they were fireworks – that’s a normal thing here,” says Dubai resident Meghan O’Riordan of Iran’s air strikes on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the US-Israeli attacks on February 28th.
O’Riordan returned home to Co Meath on the second evacuation flight to Dublin, following worried calls from her parents. She worked remotely in her software sales job for five weeks before returning to life in the Gulf region, where she has lived since 2023.
Unfazed by the unrest, the 29-year-old still feels Dubai offers her a life far beyond what is achievable for her in Ireland, where she had worked as a waitress. “I call it Barbieland because everything is so shiny, the lights and everything. It’s different to anywhere I’ve ever been.”
But for other Irish living in the region, the attacks have caused them to reconsider their futures. “I don’t want to go in the middle of the night with a bag under my arm. I want to plan it,” says Philip*, an Irish man living in Abu Dhabi for the past decade. The attacks have brought his family’s leaving plans forward.
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“We were probably coming to the point anyway. But it has forced some people into making the decision [to leave].”
The number of Irish people living in the Gulf region has ballooned in recent decades, lured by low-tax (or tax-free) salaries, well-paid job opportunities and a vibrant, modern expat lifestyle. During the travel crisis in March, when air space and airports from Dubai to Bahrain closed, 22,000 Irish citizens in the Gulf registered with embassies.
The biggest cohort of Irish is in the UAE, more than tripling the last two decades to an estimated 14,000, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) figures show. The communities are centred in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, known for shiny skyscrapers, a glamorous expat lifestyle and luxury beach resorts. It is one of the largest Irish diasporas per capita, according to the DFA .
But, unlike other hubs, where Irish get fully rooted in the local permanent community, UAE society is by its nature more transient. Emigrants account for an estimated 88 per cent of its 10 million population. Irish workers, many in education and healthcare, often arrive intending to make money for a few years before leaving.
Fresh US strikes on Iran this week and retaliatory attacks on US bases in the Gulf, brought a shaky truce closer to collapse, increasing volatility in the region. But the damage done across the Gulf is not just in the military bases and infrastructure hit by rockets. Anecdotally, many Irish have left, while more have begun to think about leaving. So has the conflict knocked the glitter off the Dubai dream?
Philip loves the life there and feels ideas about people moving over to be “tax dodgers” is not representative. “I have a family over here and it’s a wonderful place to live.”
But the uncertainty has left him shaken. “It was not what we bargained for,” says Philip, who works in a senior education role. “The war came out of the blue. It was quite intense for the first week or two, there were missiles over the house with interceptors taking them out.”
[ Gleaming image of Dubai as a safe haven shaken by Iranian missiles and dronesOpens in new window ]
However, his family always felt “relatively safe”, saying UAE authorities didn’t get enough credit for the orderly way they dealt with attacks, from missile alerts on phones to successful interceptions of hundreds of Iranian missiles and thousands of drones.
Life in Abu Dhabi for Philip has returned to relative normality pretty quickly, with no fuel or food shortages and his children back at in-person schooling. But although the crisis was well-handled, it has left a burning question in the back of his mind.
“It was bizarre – like a phoney war, but it could all change tomorrow,” he says. Now people are “a bit more inclined to look at the exit strategy”.
Philip spoke to The Irish Times on condition of anonymity. Underneath the modern exterior and glamorous social media posts, many of the Gulf nations impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression. There are large fines or potential imprisonment for public criticism of the ruling authorities. When war broke out UAE residents were reminded by the government that spreading unverified information was “a crime punishable by law”. On social media, near-identical, positive and almost-simultaneous posts by social media influencers (who are strictly regulated and some of whom are on content creator visas) led to accusations of state co-ordination. They included posts with the line, “You live in Dubai, are you scared? No, because I know who protects us,” overlaid on videos of royal family members.
Frank* is a Middle East veteran, having lived in the region for two decades, where he has a wife and children. “It grows on you. It becomes your home,” he says.
He saw the destruction of military bases caused by rockets. “I can take pictures but I can’t share them. You will be in trouble for sharing them,” he says.
The contractor is based between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, separated by a 25km bridge across the Arabian Gulf.
The attacks by Iranians took him by surprise. The prospect of conflict is always in the background, “but you never think about it”, he says.
“We didn’t think they would hit their neighbours. They hit the American base, that’s one thing. But then they start hitting the hotels,” he says. The Crowne Plaza in Bahrain’s capital was hit by an Iranian drone in March and two US defence forces personnel were injured.
Life is almost back to normal, aside from increased security, he says. However, the war has left Frank’s expat members’ club much quieter. “A lot of Europeans have gone back,” he says, but he is confident they will eventually return.
He praises how the Bahraini government made sure “people didn’t panic”, keeping fuel and food prices in check with supermarket inspections for price gouging. He is aware of fuel protests back in Ireland, in sharp contrast to the lack of unrest in Bahrain.
However, for Frank and his family, further escalation of the conflict would change things. “If it was to happen again. It would be serious, a hell of a lot worse,” he says. His fears centre around internal sectarian Shia and Sunni tensions bubbling over into intense fighting in the region.
“[If it escalates] There will be a lot of people leaving, there will be a lot more damage. There will be very very worried people, including myself.”
However, the sacrifice of leaving after so many years would be enormous. “It’s hard to give up this life and come home, when you realise what you have here.”
Frank talks about the widely known benefits of life in the Gulf, from tax-free salaries to high-level lifestyle and warm, dry weather. But it is more than that. “It’s a different existence here, a different life you have.”
Frank feels so many people in Ireland misjudge the region because they haven’t been there. He speaks most passionately about the lesser-known benefits which have kept him in Bahrain. There are the “lovely people”. There is the feeling of safety. He can leave his keys in his car and “nothing is touched”. His children can go and play in Bahrain’s streets without restriction. “It’s safe, that’s why families stay, it’s a safe country.”
His visits back to Ireland only prove to him what it lacks for him, including, in his view, safety as well as sunshine.
“I can understand a lot of people why they don’t want to leave. It has a lot more going for it than back home, I am sad to say.”
For O’Riordan, she has “no plans on coming back to Ireland at this stage”. She says many of her friends feel the same.
“There’s a lot of benefits aside from no tax. It’s cheaper for me. I wouldn’t be able to afford to live at home ... I’m making more money.”
She recalls a chat with her Irish partner at “pool day” the previous weekend, where expats go to a beach club or hotel pool.
“I said, what would we do at home on a Saturday and Sunday? There is just so much to do here. Your beach clubs, your run clubs, your pool days or brunches. There is something for everyone. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I have. Or have as big a community as I have.” (UAE has about a dozen GAA clubs.)
When O’Riordan first arrived in Dubai, she intended to stay for a few years and make some money before coming home. “I think a lot of people underestimate it. A lot of friends and family come over and it’s really different to what they thought.”
The impact of the conflict meant some of her friends have left for Australia, having been made redundant in hospitality due to the hit on tourism. Other friends who moved home will return in September once the weather is cooler. Temperatures regularly top 40 degrees during the summer months.
O’Riordan feels many Irish families and teachers she knows “will be here for life” because of the benefits. As for O’Riordan, despite the unrest she still feels determined to stay. “It is a very safe place. Sometimes you do forget exactly where it is.
“Myself and my partner, we’ll be here for as long as they will have us.”
*This is not their real name. Their identity is known to The Irish Times
