'Frightening' says Ballymore man in Doha

"It was frightening," says Anthony Kearney, from Ballymore, of the missiles and drones arriving in Qatar.

Anthony lives in Doha, along with his wife Eimear Tuohy from Windmill Lawns, Moate and their three children, Finn, 18, Mae, 15, and Aoibh, 11.

"There was a lot of uncertainty; we didn't know what was happening. They were really loud and you could feel the windows and doors shaking. You could see the missiles in the sky,” he said.

Anthony, who is a nurse working in the paediatric emergency department of the Sidra Medicine hospital in Doha. Eimear works as a teaching assistant in a school.

It has been a significant shift in the situation. "We never had any concerns here up to nine months ago, and it was very safe," he explained.

As political tensions grew, the family - like all residents of Qatar - were aware that could change. That change, of course, happened at the weekend.

He and his family were concerned initially that the financial district - where they live - might be a target area, and so they went to stay with friends a distance away for two nights. They were on Monday planning to return to their own home.

At the time of writing - Monday - Anthony says they have almost become accustomed to the arrival of the missiles and drones. Thankfully, Qatar has an effective anti-missile system, and it has had an almost 100 per cent success rate in intercepting the weapons sent in Qatar's direction.

He admits that it is a strange feeling knowing that all flights were halted: "It means you felt almost trapped," he states.

There is no Irish embassy in Qatar, but there is one in Abu Dhabi, and a message has gone out to Irish citizens to register their presence with the embassy, and the government of Qatar has been sending out alerts to residents' phones.

Workers who can work from home are being asked to do so; school has moved online.

There is a considerable Irish community in Qatar.

"There are maybe 2,500-3,000," says Anthony, adding that there is a great network among the Irish there, and there is a strong GAA Club.