A GENUINE DAILY MAIL headline this week: “I’m trapped and under attack in Dubai – while back home in Chichester my daughters are furious, the labradoodles are sick and, worst of all, I left my Mounjaro pen in the fridge.”

Surely it was satire, I thought. But no. Shona Sibary, a British woman who writes for the paper and divides her time between England and Dubai, was explaining how stressful she has found the past few days, apparently without the slightest hint of self-awareness or context.

“Thanks to the drone explosion this morning, the Sheikh has also shut the golf course, which in itself is unprecedented. And there is a noticeable lack of bottled water in the Waitrose across the road,” she wrote. “I can’t help feeling like we are on the brink of something big.”

A Daily Mail article earlier this week, featuring a British woman stuck in Dubai. Daily Mail Daily Mail

But her overwhelming concern was herself and her appearance: “Perhaps worst of all – I left my Mounjaro pen in the fridge at home because I thought I was only going to be away for a week. It appears that I’m not only trapped in a warzone, but I’m going to get fat again as well.”

“There isn’t a violin small enough”, one online commentator rightly replied. On the fifth day of US and Israel’s bombardment of Iran, the death toll in Iran alone has reportedly reached 1,045, and Tehran continues its retaliatory attacks across the Middle East.

It’s been a difficult week for all countries in the region. The surprise aerial attacks on Iran by the US and Israel began on Saturday, involving the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other regime leaders, and a direct missile hit on a school in Southern Iran, killing dozens of schoolgirls.

Iran has struck back with intensity, widening the conflict across the Middle East. Cities across the UAE, including Dubai, have had to fend off hundreds of missiles and drones shot in from inside Iran. Flights have been cancelled, and many are sheltering in place for now.

Around 12,000 Irish citizens are believed to live in the UAE, which is an ally of the US. The country is known for its great weather, glamorous skyscraper hotels and luxury shopping, as a hotspot for famous footballers, influencers and jetsetters. But there is a darker side to the UAE, a dark underbelly of human rights abuses.

There are, of course, many Irish citizens caught up in events this week in Dubai, families and young people, some on a flight layover to another destination, and the priority must be their safety. It is hugely traumatic to be caught up in an unexpected and unpredictable war, and it is heartening to see the Irish Government push hard to get them out and home as soon as possible. We are lucky, as Irish citizens, to be able........

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