Tori Towey ‘relieved’ to return to Dublin after Dubai travel ban

An Irish woman is “relieved” to be back in Ireland after being subjected to a travel ban in Dubai.

Tori Towey’s case was raised this week when the Irish Parliament was told the flight attendant from Co Roscommon had been a victim of domestic abuse and was charged with attempted suicide.

Dubai authorities had also banned her from leaving the state, the Dail chamber heard.

On Wednesday, efforts in her case were ramped up by the Irish Government and the Irish Embassy in the United Arab Emirates.

The Irish Parliament was told later on Wednesday that the travel ban had been lifted, and the Detained in Dubai group said the charges against Ms Towey had also been dropped.

On Thursday morning, Radha Stirling, of Detained in Dubai, who has been speaking on Ms Towey’s behalf, posted on social media on Thursday morning: “She’s home.”

Speaking to the media on her return to Dublin, Ms Towey said: “I’m just so relieved. I can’t believe it.

“I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone; the embassy, the ambassador, the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste, Mary Lou (McDonald), Claire Kerrane, obviously the media – without you guys I wouldn’t be here right now.

“Without the support of the Irish people, this is such an amazing country and I feel bad for people that don’t have the support that we have – we’re such a tight country and have each other’s backs.

“I can’t believe how fast things got going and I’m so emotional.

“And a huge thanks (to) Radha Stirling, she’s the first one that we got on to and she kicked off everything.

“The minute we spoke to her, that’s when everything kind of came to fruition and I’m just so thankful and so grateful to be back.”

Her mother Caroline said: “It is great to have her home. It has been a bit of a nightmare.

“It felt like a hostage (situation) but once it kicked off and the media started to help and we were bombarded with lots of messages of support, and we were tuning in to the Oireachtas and watching everything going on.

“So a huge thanks to the country, to our politicians, to the people.”

The Tanaiste said it is a “great relief” that Ms Towey has returned to Ireland.

Asked about the speed by which diplomatic efforts returned Ms Towey to Ireland, Mr Martin told reporters: “It wasn’t that quick actually, this case has been ongoing for quite some time and there’s been different twists and turns in relation to the case.

“But I want to pay tribute to the ambassador Alison Milton in the United Arab Emirates who worked constructively and diligently with the United Arab Emirates authorities and Government.

“Our embassy officials would have picked up contacts over a long period of time, and managed to facilitate Tori’s release with the authorities.”

Welcoming Ms Towey’s return, he added: “It’s very important with the presence of the the embassy there that we have built up relationships with all sectors of the UAE authorities, and building up those kind of relationships helped us to iron out issues and get issues resolved.”