Cork model forced to pay nearly €2,000 to leave 'harsh and unsafe' conditions in Lebanon

Fionnuala Watts says she was placed in what she described as an isolated and unsanitary 'model apartment' in the town of Jounieh, to the north of Beirut

Irish model Fionnuala Watts waits for her flight in Beirut Airport to return to Greece. Picture: Hannah McCarthy

A Russian-Lebanese owner of a model agency encouraged a model from Cork to travel to Lebanon for work in November, before refusing to allow her to leave the war-stricken country until she paid nearly €2,000.

Based in Greece, where her family moved from Ballydehob when she was a child, 28-year-old Fionnuala Watts currently works for a local Greek model agency. Earlier this year, the agency was approached by a Lebanese agency called Twice Management with an inquiry about whether Watts would be open to working in Lebanon.