Irish people working in Saudi Arabia are feeling vulnerable after this week's terrorist attack in Riyadh, writes Róisín Ingle
They go there for tax-free salaries, subsidised accommodation, and the kind of disposable incomes they could only dream of at home. But the normally peaceful world of the approximately 2,000 Irish people in Saudi Arabia was shattered last Monday when three residential compounds in the capital, Riyadh, were hit by al-Qaeda suicide bombers, killing 34 people.
Despite the terrorist threat, some ex-pats are adopting a wait-and-see approach to the situation rather than simply packing their bags. Since September 11th, Westerners in Riyadh have already been maintaining "the highest levels of personal security", as the Department of Foreign Affairs advised this week.
"We are well used to being vigilant here," says Irish banker Padraig Fitzpatrick, who moved to the region almost four years ago. He knew when he arrived that Saudi was a "challenging" place to live. "I thought it was a challenge worth taking on, a good opportunity to enhance my career and learn about a different culture," he says. Despite the attacks this week, he has no intention of breaking his contract with his bank and returning home.
A single man, Fitzpatrick had to get used to some of the local laws and customs while living in Riyadh, a desert town which enjoys a pleasant climate for most of the year but is intensely dry and dusty in the summer time. Strict Islamic rules mean it is illegal for a man and woman who are not married to be together in a public place. Alcohol and pork are prohibited, and women are not allowed to drive and must be completely covered outside the home. Westerners in their high-walled, sometimes socially claustrophobic compounds can be more relaxed but must obey the local laws once outside.
Fitzpatrick was in bed in his apartment when the compounds 25 kilometres away were hit.
"I didn't hear the explosions, but I got a phone call shortly afterwards. I think everyone was shocked; there was disbelief. Nobody here could imagine that suicide bombers would target people's homes in the way they did," he says.
The next morning, he went to work as usual. "Ex-pats are normally secure in their homes, but after Monday we know they are not the safe havens we believed they were. There is an increased level of vulnerability and some people whose contracts are due to run out have decided to leave or are sending family dependents home," he says.
Fitzpatrick is staying on. He enjoys the range of activities including horse-riding, scuba diving, golf and desert camping. "I find the Saudi people extremely hospitable, peace- loving and decent," he says. "It is a wonderful experience living here."
Not everyone agrees. Blainéad O'Connor, a nurse from Goatstown, Co Dublin, can't wait to leave and is considering giving up nursing after dealing with the aftermath of Monday's attacks in the King Sahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh.
"As a nurse you deal with horrific things all the time. But seeing the people coming in with their injuries that night and wondering if your friends would be among them was terrible," she says. O'Connor watched people die in the emergency ward. "We stood there with tears in our eyes, but we didn't break down. The staff at the hospital were wonderful. The attack has made me reconsider things, I don't want to be a nurse any more," she says.
O'Connor had not enjoyed life in Riyadh for some time before the attacks. "There is a lot of anti-American sentiment and if you are white you are treated like an American, jeered at in the street and called names. We barely leave our compounds since the Iraqi war, we have no life," she says. Even her financial expectations have come to nothing, she says, because of a decline in the Euro. She is due to return home for a holiday in a month but won't be leaving Riyadh for good until she can save enough money to ship her two pet cats home.
A dental nurse from Co Cork who didn't want to be named said that, while she did not agree with the way women are treated, "you just get on with things".
Her contract with the hospital ran out in March but despite increased security risks she decided to extend the contract by another three months.
"In my three years here I can honestly say I have had no bad experiences. I would recommend anybody to come," she says. "I know some people don't like the restrictions but you have to accept it." She loves the "tax-free lifestyle" and the shopping malls. "There is no way you would get to see this kind of money at home," she says.
Like many Irish people in Riyadh, Padraig Fitzpatrick says he is constantly reviewing his situation. "I don't think Saudi is any more dangerous today than it has been over the last few years," he says. "The terrible events of last Monday are a rude reminder that terrorism can strike anywhere."