The first Irish government chartered flight to bring home stranded Irish citizens from the Middle East has landed at Dublin Airport.

The flight carrying 194 passengers left Oman on Saturday afternoon (local time) and arrived in Dublin at about 05:00 (local time).

The Irish embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said earlier this week that elderly citizens or those with medical conditions would be prioritised and that children under 16 years would be able to travel for free.

Thousands of people from the UK and the Republic of Ireland have been unable to leave the region after US-Israeli strikes on Iran prompted retaliatory strikes by Tehran across the region.

The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister, Helen McEntee, said it was a "challenging journey", but she was "glad that we have been able to directly facilitate the return of nearly 200 people, including several children and infants".

She said, "I welcome the fact that flights from Dubai have returned some 1500 people in recent days. I would encourage all those still in the UAE and who want to leave to avail of commercial options where those are available."

McEntee said more than 18,000 people have registered their presence in the area with the Irish government.

The flight departed from Muscat in Oman and made a stopover in Cairo in Egypt before arriving in Dublin.

It had been due to depart on Friday but was delayed because of "highly challenging" conditions in the Middle East, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said.

One passenger, Orlaith Byrne, said, "We left Dubai 52 hours ago to make this journey, so yeah, it's been a journey.

Josephine Leonard added: "It's been about 52 and a half hours, not all travel time but quite a bit of it."

There had been some criticism over the price the Irish government had set for those hoping to secure a seat on the flight.

Adults were charged €800 (£695), but children under 16 were able to travel for free.

McEntee defended the charge, saying the price of the flight was "substantially reduced compared to the overall cost".

The first passengers to arrive back in the Republic of Ireland from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) landed at Dublin Airport on a commercial flight from Dubai on Wednesday night.

The Emirates flight, which had almost 400 passengers on board, was the first in several days after the United States-Israeli attacks on Iran led to the closure of nearly all airspace in the Middle East.

The UK government said on Saturday that it will charter a flight from Dubai early next week for British nationals wanting to leave the region, subject to the situation on the ground.

The commercial flight, to leave from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be available for a charge.

British nationals, their spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 are eligible to register.