Tori Towey ‘relieved’ to return to Dublin after Dubai travel ban
Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
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 Dáil 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 Dáil chamber heard.
On Wednesday, efforts in her case were ramped up by the Government and the Irish Embassy in the United Arab Emirates.
The Dáil 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 Tánaiste, 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.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie), Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie), or the Samaritans (24-hour confidential freephone helpline at 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org) for support and information. Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at i.