Dubai is 'getting back to normal' says founder of city's financial centre, Corkman Cormac

One of the founding pioneers of the Dubai International Financial centre, Cork man Cormac Sheedy, has witnessed the extraordinary growth of the Gulf city since moving there in 2003.

But Dubai, the biggest city in the United Arab Emirates, has been significantly impacted by the ongoing US/Isral-Iran war since the conflict commenced on February 28.

Mr Sheedy, who attended Christian Brothers College in Cork and also founded the Irish Business Network in Dubai, feels the holding of the ceasefire and a longer term solution to the ongoing tensions will be key to restoration in the region.

In terms of what life has been like in Dubai in the midst of the war over the last few months, he told The Echo.

“I think initially it was quite scary for people, you know, very loud explosions, particularly at night time. People were very naturally scared and not used to experiencing such a thing, being in effectively a war zone.

“The UAE defence system was extremely good. They’ve invested tens of millions into the technology around stopping these missiles coming in. They have pretty well stopped all the missiles coming in.

“Since the ceasefire was announced, it is a lot calmer. The drones have all stopped because of the ceasefire, so people are sort of getting back to normal, getting back to work.

“So you will see them announcing, no doubt, a number of measures to try and get business back on track, to try and get things back to normal.

“The big concern for everyone is that this ceasefire holds and that a longer term solution is found to de-escalate it.”

Mr Sheedy added that it may take a little longer for the well-renowned tourism and hospitality sector in Dubai to get properly back on track.

“I think the bit that will take a bit longer to fix will be the whole tourism and hospitality side of things. People will be naturally nervous and they’ll need to see that there’s a proper ceasefire, that the flights are back to normal and that it feels safe again to travel

“I’ve lived there over 20 years and we’ve always felt Dubai was one of the safest places in the world where you could be. I believe that is sort of still the case. But no one wants to be in effectively a war zone. It’s just not natural to any of us.

“Dubai is a holiday destination. People love to come for winter sun there. They feel safe there and there’s no crime really.

“People have always felt it is very safe. But on a bigger scale, they’ll have to feel that it’s safe again and that there is peace there, before they’ll consider coming back.”