Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee: 'For a small country, we have an unusually large population in the Middle East.' Photograph: Bryan O’BrienAs many as 2,000 Irish people are actively trying to leave the Gulf region as violence escalates across the Middle East, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said. She has said that between 1,500 to 2,000 Irish citizens have registered or contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs to say they were stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar due to flights being suspended in the region. Photograph: Negar/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty“For a small country, we have an unusually large population in the Middle East, in particular in the UAE and Qatar,” she said. She said she hoped the flight would be the “first of many” to repatriate Irish citizens from the region.

Source: The Irish Times March 04, 2026 06:15 UTC