Irish woman Tori Towey has said she is "so relieved" to be back in Ireland following her ordeal in Dubai.

She was speaking after landing at Dublin Airport with her mother, Caroline. The Emirates flight from Dubai to Dublin landed at 12.21pm.

The pair were greeted by Ms Towey's aunt, Ann Flynn, who had campaigned to bring her home.

"I'm just so relieved, I just I can't believe it," Ms Towey said.

"I'm just so thankful and grateful to be back. Obviously when my mother came out to me it was a massive help, but it was just the unknown and just not knowing anything, not knowing what's going to happen."

When asked if she had feared that she might not be able to return to Ireland, she said: "Of course, I didn't know what was going to happen.

"It's only kind of between yesterday and today that I kind of got clarity. I wasn't getting any answers, but I'm just glad to be back."

Ms Towey, 28, she said is "so grateful to everybody" who helped her return to Ireland.

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, she said: "I'm so grateful because obviously there’s other people who aren’t as lucky as me to come from a country like this and have so much support behind me."

Ms Towey thanked her family and friends, as well as the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Irish Ambassador and Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald and Claire Kerrane.

She said the support of the Irish people and the media had been amazing and she felt bad for those who did not have that support.

Ms Towey also thanked Radha Stirling from Detained in Dubai, adding that she was the first person they had contacted to get support.

Ms Towey said she was at "crossroads" before she contacted Ms Stirling.

"I got to a point where I wasn't getting answers. I wasn't getting information," she said.

"It just felt at this point bigger than me. I was at a dead end," she added.

However, Ms Towey said Ms Stirling had "kick started everything".

The 28-year-old said she was initially "cautious" when she heard the charges against her had been dropped.

She said: "I didn't allow myself to believe it at first. It was a shock."

Regarding how authorities in Dubai handled her case, Ms Towey said that she has not "really had time to think about the authorities, about how it was handled".

"I feel like maybe after sometime when I get to go home and rest, I'll be able to speak a little bit more about that," she said.

She described Dubai as a "great city" with "great opportunities".

"I was very happy there up until this happened, but you know things do happen in life and sometimes it is very different to how things would be handled at home," she said.

Ms Towey said that now she is back in Ireland, she plans to "go home and just keep moving on" with her life.

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'Nightmare'

Her mother Caroline described the situation her daughter had found herself in as a "nightmare".

"Once you talk and the media started to help, we started getting bombarded with messages of support," she said, also thanking the Irish Ambassador's office.

Ms Stirling said Ms Towey's family have returned to Co Roscommon.

"Its been an ordeal," Ms Stirling said, adding that she is delighted to see the family reunited.

She said she hoped this case would bring hope to other people.

"We've already received so many communications from people in similar situations," she said.

Read more:
Dubai authorities drop charges against Tori Towey
Watch: Relatives welcome lifting of Tori Towey travel ban

Ms Stirling said what happened to Ms Towey was not an isolated incident in terms of how victims of alleged abuse can be treated in the United Arab Emirates.

Often the first person who makes a report is the one believed by police, she said.

"The issue here is the Dubai justice system and inequality under the law ... this is absolutely something that the UAE needs to address," Ms Stirling said.

"Otherwise we're going to continue to see cases like Tori's and it's just heartwrenching to imagine what she's been through and then to be abused by the justice system as well and then to have them remove the case only because of media and diplomatic support."

"But can you imagine how many people don't have that support?" she asked, adding that many people currently in Dubai have been unfairly jailed, prosecuted and deported.

Taoiseach 'so glad' Tori Towey home

Ms Towey's case was raised in the Dáil earlier this week by Ms McDonald, who said the 28-year-old was unable to leave Dubai after she was attacked in her home and faced charges of attempted suicide and alcohol consumption.

Authorities in Dubai confirmed yesterday that charges against Ms Towey had been dropped and the travel ban had been lifted.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said no Irish citizen should have to endure what Ms Towey had.

In a post on social media site X, Mr Harris said he was "so glad" Ms Towey had arrived home.

Yesterday, two of her aunts said they were overjoyed that Ms Towey was due to return to Ireland.

Trish Beirne, from near Frenchpark in Co Roscommon, said it was "great news that the two of them were coming home" and paid tribute to friends in the area who had offered support to the family in recent days.