AFTER the horrors of 9/11 it looked as if nobody would ever construct tall buildings again. The North Tower at the World Trade Center rose to 417m, marginally higher than the South Tower at 415m. All reduced to rubble by man’s inhumanity to man.
During trips to the US, the present writer never took the opportunity to go to the top of either tower, although he visited the Empire State Building which is 381m in height and, as an estate agent might say, “affords a majestic view of Manhattan and surrounding area”.
Even the 9/11 tragedy could not deter architects and builders in their quest to reach for the skies. Shanghai has led the way in constructing these spectacular edifices with Hong Kong. Taipei, Melbourne and even New York City itself creating further massive structures.
It can safely be said that "Tallest Building in the World" is a title no particular skyscraper will hold onto for very long, but at present it belongs to the Dubai's Burj Khalifa (Khalifa Tower), which features prominently in Tom Cruise's new movie, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
This is a dizzying 828m, nearly twice the height of the Twin Towers and more than 300m taller than the Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan.
Intrepid to the last, on a recent visit to Dubai, your humble scribe took the elevator to the observation deck on the 124th floor. Except you don’t call them floors, they are known as “levels” and the Burj Khalifa has 160 “habitable levels”.
Looking out the windows at the lesser buildings below one couldn’t help thinking of the World Trade Center and the tragic fate which befell so many on that dreadful day. However, life goes on and this extraordinary structure rising out of the desert can be seen as an act of defiance to those who would block the onward march of humanity.
Officially opened in January last year, the “Burj” features the world’s highest swimming-pool on the 76th level, more than 270m above the ground. If that’s too much for you, there are four other pools lower down.
Sadly, one’s schedule did not allow for a visit to the Armani Hotel, which is also part of this “Vertical City”. It is the first hotel to be designed and developed by Giorgio Armani, with no less than eight restaurants, including an Italian one of course.
As so often, there is an Irish connection: one of the three contractors who built the Burj Khalif was Arabtec Construction whose CEO was Dublin-born businessman and civil engineer Tom Barry who recently retired.
I didn’t meet any Irish people at the Burj Khalifa that day but there are plenty of us about in Dubai and elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates, especially with the economy in such difficulty back home.
There is already a direct air service by Etihad airlines from Dublin to Abu Dhabi. And on January 9th, a daily Dublin-Dubai flight will be launched by Emirates airlines.
Etihad has forged an interesting cross-cultural link through its sponsorship role with the Gaelic Athletic Association and, as it happens, the GAA is an active force among the 5,000-strong Irish community in the UAE.
Originally from Dunderry, Co Meath, Paddy Darcy tells me there are currently four GAA clubs: Dubai Celts, Sharjah, Al Ain and the evocatively-named Abu Dhabi Na Fianna: an interesting combination of the Arabic and Irish languages.
Other teams in the region include Clann na hOman, Orynx Na hÉireann Qatar, Kuwait Harps, Naomh Alee, Riyadh and the Arabian Celts. These nine clubs have teams playing Gaelic football (men’s and women’s teams), hurling and camogie.
“We compete locally in the Middle East GAA League and also in the Dubai Duty Free Gulf Gaelic Games in Dubai in March every year,” says Mr Darcy, who has been in the UAE for the past seven years.
“Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and the Arabian Celts all recently travelled to Suwon, Korea for the 16th Asian Gaelic Games,” he adds.
Mr Darcy says the weather is very pleasant for eight months of the year but that the “harsh summers” force the Irish indoors.
The social life is good, with golf, days at the beach, desert safaris and shopping – a national pastime in the UAE – and of course the usual quota of Irish bars (I recall that an Irish bar in Moscow was actually owned by businesspeople from the Caucasian state of Georgia). Abu Dhabi is part of the UAE and a recently-returned Irish emigrant says that you work hard but the opportunities are good: “I went out on a three-week assignment and stayed nearly five years because the work was so exciting”.
Wonder of wonders, there is no income tax: “People at home always marvel at its tax-free status but it is no easier to save since there is an extravagant lifestyle to keep up with.
“As a young woman, I found it an extremely safe place to live, with almost no street-crime. If you like fast cars, the sun and shopping, you will love living there.”
It sounds like Hollywood on the Gulf. Maybe we should stop feeling quite so sorry for our emigrants: no doubt they miss their families and often feel homesick but, as the excellent RTÉ programme Arrivalsconfirmed, they are gainfully employed and having a fun time at weekends – which just might not be the case in Ireland at present.