"Dubai is a perfect example of how things can work in business, of how an enlightened government can make a place tick and of how different nationalities can mix and live harmoniously together," says Colm McLoughlin, a native of Ballinasloe, Co Galway, who has worked for Dubai Duty Free for 23 years and is now its managing director. "I work for the government, yet I have great freedom to do what I think is right and full support to be as innovative as possible."
John O'Kelly, a director of Powerhouse Properties, a brokerage and management company, agrees. "I love the speed of things here and that everything is new and modern and works very, very well," he says. O'Kelly, who is originally from Carlow, has lived in the city for 19 years. "Dubai is a vibrant trading city that enables people from all over the world to meet, do business and get things done. It's like the cities and staging posts that sprang up along the ancient Silk Road."