Concerns continue to rise for those in Carlow and Kilkenny with loved ones in the Middle East and surrounding areas.
Missiles are in the sky and loud explosions can be heard in Lebanon’s capital Beirut after Israel launched a fresh wave of strikes while footage on social media shows huge traffic jams out of the city.
Many too are sheltering in Dubai and other United Arab Emirates spots which have become home to so many from our locality.
Those hoping to travel to and from the region are expected to remain grounded for the foreseeable with flights between Dublin and the UAE and Qatar have been cancelled again today.
Editor of Travel Extra, Eoghan Corry says ” “We need those key airports Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai to reopen fairly quickly as the week develops the numbers of displaced passengers, cancelled passengers, will increase, the number of people actually flying directly to Dubai is pretty small, the reality is everybody’s connecting and a key route to Australia”.
Politicians are moving to allay fears with advice like the following from Carlow Kilkenny Deputy Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere;
Statement from Irish Travel Agents Association
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) have upgraded travel advice for the Gulf States, in particular the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ‘Avoid Non-Essential Travel’. Travel advice remains that Irish citizens should not undertake travel to Iran or to Israel at this time.
The Irish Travel Agents Association are advising those who had plans to travel to, or those currently holidaying in the Gulf States, to contact their ITAA travel agent immediately and to follow the advice of the DFA.
Tom Randles, President of the Irish Travel Agents Association said, “I would strongly recommend that anyone thinking of traveling to the Middle East should read the Department of Foreign Affairs travel advice and check with their ITAA travel agent before making any bookings. The ITAA advice to any prospective Irish travellers who may have already booked a holiday to any destination in the Middle East is to immediately check with both your travel agent and your travel insurance. When the DFA advise to ‘Avoid Essential Travel’ to a particular country, UAE in this instance, it usually means that the travel insurance policy will not cover travel to that country.”
He continued, “Our advice to anyone in any of the Gulf States is to maintain contact with the airline you travelled on, maintain contact with your travel agent or tour operator, keep your mobile phone charged, and follow closely local media reports and advice. It is also strongly recommended that you register with the Department of Foreign Affairs online at https://citizensregistration.dfa.ie/. You can also contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade consular team in Dublin at +353 1 4082000.”
“As of now, there are no evacuation routes recommended for Gulf countries and so the advice is to shelter in place. Remain where you are until instructed otherwise,” he concluded.
See the latest from the Department of Foreign Affairs here.
Stay tuned for updates and to hear from those affected – if you’ve something to share please text / whatsapp straight to studio: 083 306 96 96.
