Taoiseach confirms Tori Towey cleared to return home as Dubai travel ban lifted

Taoiseach Simon Harris has confirmed that the travel ban preventing Irish woman Tori Towey from leaving Dubai has been lifted.

The Embassy in the United Arab Emirates will now take her to the airport to come home when she is ready.

Campaigners claim that the 28-year-old air steward is accused of breaking strict laws in the Muslim country – even though she is the victim of an alleged attack in her home.

Human rights campaigners said that she wanted to leave the Middle Eastern state after receiving hospital treatment for severe bruising and other injuries – but was detained.

READ MORE: Irish woman charged with attempted suicide in Dubai ‘very nervous’ and wants to come home, says aunt

Mr Harris told the Dáil: “I’ve just been informed that the travel ban has been lifted. The Embassy will take Tori to the airport as soon as she is ready to go. The Embassy of course will continue to follow the case which is still active as of now.”

The Taoiseach later confirmed that he had spoken to Tori and her mother Caroline.

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin, meanwhile, told RTÉ’s News at One that there had been “painstaking work” by Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Alison Milton.

He also denied that the publicity around the case and the intervention of Sinn Féin “helped” the case to be resolved so quickly.

” I would have known last evening (Tuesday) that there was positive news on the way,” he stated.

“My general view of things is I don’t really comment confidently about anything until somebody is on the plane.

“I’ve had many situations that we’ve had to deal with in different jurisdictions. But people do things in the best of faith but you know, we tend to have a modus operandi in terms of how we operate, particularly where it involves personal information and cases and so on like that.”

The Tánaiste also said there had been “twists and turns” in the case but welcomed the positive outcome.

Speaking shortly before the announcement that the travel ban was lifted, the Taoiseach stated that Ms Towey is a “victim” and not a “criminal”.

He confirmed that he had spoken to Tori and her mother Caroline over the previous hours.

“An Irish woman, an Irish citizen, has been a victim of horrific male violence, has been the victim of the most brutal, horrific attack one can imagine,” Mr Harris told the Dáil.

“After enduring that horrific brutal attack, Tori Towey didn’t wake up in a hospital being supported and cared for and loved. She woke up in a police station. We want Tori Towey back in this country. We want her back home in Roscommon, that’s what she wants as well.”

The Taoiseach said he had spoken to Ms Towey and her mother and told them getting her home was “a priority issue”.

He has also been in contact with the Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates and that she and the Embassy are “working extraordinarily hard on this matter”.

Mr Harris added: “No effort will be spared by us, by Ireland, to make progress on this matter and to get Tori Towey home.

“She doesn’t need to come home after a court case because she is not a criminal. She is a victim of gender-based violence. We expect her to be able to return here to Ireland as an Irish citizen without delay.”

Speaking under privilege, Ms McDonald told the Dáil that Ms Towey had gotten married last March.

“Since then, Tori has been subjected to sustained and brutal domestic violence and abuse,” she said.

“When she went to the authorities to seek help, instead of being protected, she was sent home with her husband. Her husband then destroyed her passport so she couldn’t travel and she couldn’t work. She couldn’t come back to Ireland.

“Tori was, in effect, held captive by her abuser.

“Just over two weeks ago, she endured a particularly vicious beating. Her husband repeatedly slammed doors on her arms trying to break her limbs and he tried to strangle her. “She fled upstairs in a desperate attempt to escape the violence and in desperation, she tried to take her own life.

“When Tori came to, she was surrounded by paramedics but instead of being taken to a hospital, she was taken to a police station.

“There she was charged with attempted suicide and alcohol abuse. Tori was placed in a cell with 50 other women. She wasn’t told what she was charged with. She wasn’t given any information at all.

“Tori was released on bail but her passport was blocked. She is banned from leaving the state.”

Ms McDonald urged Mr Harris to act quickly as “once the Dubai court process kicks in, it becomes harder and harder to get Tori back home to Ireland quickly.”

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