Meath Live spoke to Francis Flynn from Beauparc, Navan ,county Meath this morning in Dubai. He and his son, along with others plan to get a flight home to Dublin from Dubai with Emirates tomorrow morning. A Gaa trip to the sun in Dubai for a few days along with his son Ciarán has left them caught up in the conflict in the Middle East. There are also a number of other members of the Gaa team that were over refereeing an official hurling event. Little did they know Trump’s attack along with Israel on Iran on Saturday would see them trapped in an uncertain dilemma that it triggered a backlash from Iran attacking back with missile attacks to friendly states with American connections in the region.
Talking about the events as they happened, Francis told us as a hurling game finished, the news was breaking of missile attacks in Dubai and other countries in the area. There was panic and naturally there was cause for concern. ”When they returned to their hotel, the Tryp By Wyndham Dubai , a 27 storey hotel. We were on the 25th floor of the hotel, They were all warned to stay indoors. A message alert displayed on all phones in Arabic and English warning people to seek safety and refuge.”
”We went downstairs to see what was going on, some people went to the basement. You could see some of the effects of the missiles but there is a good defence system here. Yes, we were concerned but it all appears normal at the minute. We had planned to do a bit of sight seeing when we got there, we went to see the Burj Khalifa hotel and the Palm Monorail but that was closed for temporary maintenance.” Events would change the rest of the trip as the weekend unfolded, as they sought to get home. They could see some of the damage caused in the distance and knew there had been damage done near the Burj Khalifa that they had visited earlier in the week.
Above; James McGrath Westmeath ( All Ireland Final Referee) with Shane Scanlon, Cork and Ciarán Flynn, Meath in Dubai last Saturday. Lead picture Ciarán Flynn with his dad Francis.
”Ciaran’s wife Rachel was more worried when she saw what was going on but we were ok. Ciaran was on the ball and got onto the right twitter account (X) for Emirates and we’ve been able to get tickets home for ourselves and a couple of the other guys. We are flying home tomorrow morning with Emirates, he was able to get us all on the flight.” he said.
As we spoke to Francis, he seemed relaxed and was taking in the experience in a very calm manner. He told us there was talk of a 900 mile drive through the desert to catch a flight in Riyadh, which didn’t appeal to him. There were people panicking but on the whole he felt safe. He also told us he spoke to Jack Gordon’s wife Geraldine from Yellow Furze in our parish, who was over visiting her daughter who teaches in Dubai. There were also a couple of lads from Athboy and Alan Douglas from Trim who he knew.
Francis Flynn originally from Dunsany is well known in Gaa circles having been a very active member in Meath Gaa, his son Ciaran continues the tradition as current secretary of the Meath county board, both are teachers with Francis now retired but still active with Gaa interests.
Hopefully they will all get back safe and sound along with everyone else that was in transit or simply wants to get home while this conflict continues. There are an estimated 20,000 Irish citizens living and working successfully in the Middle East. The Department For Foreign Affairs and Minister Helen McEntee are making plans along with Eu member states to get people home safely.
