Navan man stranded in Sydney due to travel lock down makes plea for help to get home

A distressed young Navan man who has been left stranded at Sydney Airport in Australia due to a travel lockdown is making a desperate plea for help to get home.
 
Eoghan Breathnach (23) was left devastated when he arrived to check in for his flight to Abu Dhabi at 5pm local time on Tuesday only to be told that the country was closing its borders to foreign nationals and they could not board the plane.
 
Eoghan and his girlfriend Aisling were due to get a connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Dublin. The only remaining flights available to Dublin now cost €11,000. 
 
 Eoghan and Aisling’s trip of a lifetime to Australia was cut short when the coronavirus crisis began to wreak havoc down under.
 
The couple who only arrived in the country at the end of January planned to stay for a year but their plans were cut short when the were forced to return home because of the global pandemic.
 
But they are not alone. Thousands of Irish people are stuck in airports in Australia and New Zealand due to unprecedented border closures. A Facebook group called ‘Get us Home from Australia’ gathered over 1000 Irish and UK nationals in just a few hours all stranded in Oz.
 
The young Navan native says he feels ‘abandoned’ by those in power.
 
“We arrived at Sydney airport this morning around 11am and were waiting around until we went to check in at 2pm only for us to be told foreign nationals weren’t allowed on the flight only UAE nationals were allowed because they were closing the borders.
 
“The flight was meant to be at 5pm from Sydney to Dublin via Abu Dhabi with Etihad airways.
 
“We were told we could refund our flight or change the date to a future one if we rang the airline ourselves which we did and were left on hold for over an hour and a half without answer.
 
“We knew that UAE were closing borders to foreign nationals on Wednesday 25th at 23.59 but when we got to check in were told they today decided to move the ban forward by a day.
 
“We aren’t the only ones as hundreds of Irish around Sydney and Melbourne are waiting for flights home and are stranded as their flights too have been cancelled. There are people everywhere here all stranded.
 
“At the moment there are no flights available to get home bar one airline that is charging €11,500.  I don’t think anyone stuck here in Australia can afford that.

“I am exhausted and running out of hope. I understand the measures were taken because they do not want to spread the virus but I feel there could have been a way to solve this. 
 
“I was lucky to have someone with me but others were sitting down and ringing home crying to their parents,  it was really upsetting to see. “

 The worried Navan man is calling for the government to take action and help Irish people return home to their loved ones.
 
“We need to put pressure on the Irish government to help and support us trying to get back home as it’s near impossible for anyone to afford that kind of price for flights. 
 
“Many of us have contacted local TDs in an attempt to put pressure on the government to organise some sort of way home.
 
“It’s a worrying situation as we have had no word back from these TDs and no time scale of when this could be sorted.
 
“The only replies we have received from them and from Irish embassy here in Australia is to register details for Irish citizens on the Department of Foreign Affairs website which we have done.
 
“We’ve only been here since the end of January, we were meant to be on a working holiday visa but did some travelling first and then places stopped hiring and others shut up leaving the Irish over here without jobs, that’s why so many people are trying to return home as the rent is not affordable here without a job.
 
“The money we had left was used to buy these flights home and now we are left with very little funds and no accommodation. I don't know what we are going to do."