Many of the women who wear niqab in Ireland are not permanent residents but students, like Sara al Oteibi from Saudi Arabia. The 25-year-old, who plans to do post-graduate research on cognitive behavioural therapy, is studying English in Dublin under the King Abdullah Scholarship programme, which allows Saudi students to continue their studies overseas.Beyond the veil Al Oteibi began wearing the full-face veil at 15 and knows six other Saudi women studying in Ireland who wear niqab. "My niqab protects me," she says. From what? "From men!" she exclaims. "The face is the main point of attraction for men. Women who don't wear niqab invite a lot of problems with men. In Islam, women are like diamonds, they need to be protected. Allah knows what is best for women. Also, when I cover my face I don't feel so shy with people. It gives me more confidence." Most of the negative comments al Oteibi and her niqab-wearing friends have experienced in Ireland come from older women. "One day at Milltown Luas stop an elderly Irish woman said to me: 'You should go back to your own country. You wear ridiculous clothes.' I just ignored her." In another incident, al Oteibi's sister, who was visiting from Riyadh with their mother, was confronted by some youths who tried to pull her niqab off. "She was very upset and afraid," she says. "My family has travelled to many European countries and they were surprised that it was only in Ireland that something like this happened." Jasmina Kid moved to Ireland less than a year ago with her husband, an Irish Muslim she met while both were teaching in the United Arab Emirates. Kid, who was born in Melbourne to Tunisian parents, began wearing niqab in the UAE in 2008. "I was working at a British curricular school where most of the teachers were women from the UK and US, and most of them wore niqab," she says. "I got really comfortable with the idea of niqab; most of my friends there wore it. What I saw was contrary to the stereotypes I had always associated it with - these women were all successful, active, professional women who had made an educated choice to wear it." Kid finds the reasons women have for wearing niqab vary. "Everyone has their own understanding of it. It can be spiritual, physical, a feminist statement or a sense of religious duty. I know some women in England who explain it as some sort of feminist statement, in that they are not going to be told by secular society how they should dress. "For many, it gives a sense of privacy. I think the secular world has really misunderstood niqab. For a Muslim woman, the niqab is not a tool to lock herself out of the world and cut people off. Rather it empowers her to invite whom she wishes into her world." And the niqab is not a barrier to communication, Kid says. "Some people say if you are wearing it you can't communicate, you can't participate in society. But you still have the person's tone of voice and the substance of what they are saying." She doesn't wear the niqab every day in Ireland. "I've been here for less than a year and I'm getting used to everything around me. I wear it where I'm comfortable, like going to the mosque or to the shops. For me it's not a state of being: I'm not a sinner if I take it off. It's an ongoing journey for me," she says. "When I do wear it here, I haven't experienced any open prejudice. Once I was walking past a group of youths, and one of them made a comment about my niqab, he was just having a bit of fun, but his friend slapped him on the shoulder and said: 'Hey, that's a bit racist.' Irish people seem very tolerant." An Irish convert: 'Everywhere you look these days it's all sex, sex, sex, sex' Amna Han, originally from Tallaght, converted to Islam in 2004. "I became more interested in Islam after 9/11 because of all the media coverage of Islam and Muslims. "I started wearing hijab after I converted in 2004 at the age of 18. Niqab felt like a natural progression. I've been wearing it on and off for just under a year. My sister, who converted last year, also wears niqab. "It's not for every woman but it makes me feel so much more secure. I think the reasoning behind it is just common sense. It is a form of protection. Everywhere you look these days it's all about sex, sex, sex, sex. Men are weaker . . . they react to images more than we do. They just can't control themselves. "It also gives me a sense of freedom. When I wear niqab I am judged only for who I am and not for my body - that is something I have wanted all my life. "During my teenage years, it was horrible - the pressure of always having to dress up for men.