Carlow man in Abu Dhabi in the dark after attacks on Iran
A plume of smoke rises from the port of Jebel Ali following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai on Sunday. Photograph: Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images
A CARLOW man who lives in Abu Dhabi with his young family has said that it is difficult to get news about what’s going on in the wake of the American and Israeli air attacks on Iran.
“There’s no real news. We’re relying on WhatsApp and Reddit and whatever to find news. It’s not clear what’s actually going on. We are piecing it together,” said Dermot (40).
Dermot, who didn’t want us to publish his surname, moved to Abu Dhabi nine months ago.
When it comes to safety amidst the current situation, Dermot said: “I feel okay. I don’t feel particularly unsafe.” According to Dermot, the city is currently peaceful, but “there was some excitement over the weekend, what sounded like explosions, which were, as I understand it, some missile interceptions. I live near the airport, so there were a lot of things in the air, but we didn’t see or hear much because we took the advice and stayed indoors.”
Dermot feels relieved to be living where he is, as “other parts of the country are experiencing more direct activity and friends in certain areas closer to the port or other areas are experiencing a bit more noise disruption and so on”.
He described the current situation as being reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic, as “right now, we are working from home. The kids are not in school and we’re just kind of a little bit housebound”.
Dermot and his family are due to make a visit home to Carlow this weekend.
“I’m worried about whether my flights will happen. It’s just the travel disruption is a little bit of an inconvenience,” Dermot said.
