Mayo man among thousands of Irish citizens stranded in the Middle East
Danny O'Toole from the Neale is currently sheltering in Doha, Qatar as the Middle East is gripped by escalating conflict
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A young Mayo man is one of thousands of Irish people stranded in the Middle East in the midst of escalating conflict in the region.
21-year-old SETU Carlow Sports Management and Coaching student Danny O’Toole from the Neale travelled to Doha in Qatar as part of his work placement in Lebanon with AMAK, a professional football centre of excellence, and has been locked down sheltering in a hotel with academy players and fellow coaches since the weekend.
Danny’s team of young football prospects, aged 11 to 14, were preparing for a highlight of their young career, a game against the Paris Saint-Germain Academy team, when word broke that plans would have to quickly change.
Danny described the “surreal” scenes of missiles being intercepted over the night sky to the Western People.
“On Saturday morning, we completed our pre match presentation in the hotel and the players went back to their rooms to prepare and the staff were organising the final details,” he said.
“Then every phone in the room began receiving emergency alerts advising everyone to remain indoors except in cases of absolute necessity. Shortly afterwards, defensive interceptions were visible in the sky above the city. It was a surreal moment.”
“Within minutes, we were informed that the match had been called off. While there was initial hope it might be postponed, we quickly realised it was unlikely to go ahead during our stay.”
Further advice came in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“Around 3am, further alerts came through advising everyone to remain inside. We were woken by the notifications on our phones. Since then, we have remained in the hotel, with Hamad International Airport temporarily closed,” said Danny.
The group has remained on lockdown in their hotel while back home here in Ireland, the Government is mulling over the next steps to take regarding Danny and some 22,000 other Irish citizens currently stranded in the Middle East.
The advice at the moment is to remain in shelter and for Danny and his fellow coaches, taking charge of a young group in such a situation has represented a unique challenge.
“The most difficult part was managing the disappointment of the players. You could see it on their faces. They had built up to this fixture for weeks but what stood out to me was their maturity. For a group so young, they handled the situation calmly once it was explained clearly to them,” he said.
“As coaches, our focus shifted immediately to maintaining structure and positivity. We’ve organised supervised gym sessions, quizzes, FIFA tournaments and even begun working on a short documentary project to capture the experience.”
“We’ve also used the time to introduce media education sessions helping the players speak confidently on camera about their ambitions and what they hope to achieve in football.”
Although he is unsure when he will next set foot in south Mayo, or when his group will be able to return to Lebanon, Danny is remaining positive.
“For me personally, coming from Mayo and now coaching internationally at 21, this has been an unforgettable experience. It has reinforced the importance of programmes like this through SETU Carlow, the FAI partnership and AMAK’s international vision.”
“Even in challenging circumstances, the character shown by our young players has made me incredibly proud to be part of their journey.”
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