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By James Helm
BBC Dublin correspondent
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It's not often that news conferences begin with a round of applause.
For many of the journalists, who'd gathered in a room
overlooking the runway at Dublin Airport, when Rory Carroll walked
through the door perhaps it was partly a news story, and partly a
chance to welcome home one of their own.
No surprise that he was beaming, delighted to be safely
back on Irish soil, and happy to be home with his family after his
ordeal.
He looked remarkably fresh.
His mother and father, Kathy and Joe, sat on either side of him in front of the media.
But beneath the smiles and the relief was evidence of
the calmness and strength of character that must have helped him
through what he described as "a rollercoaster" of a few days.
"Fantastically fortunate" was how he told me he felt to
be safely back. "Arguably I'm still in denial about it, it still hasn't
really sunk in."
And he said he was "humbled" by the wall-to-wall
coverage and the attention, laughingly likening his experience of
becoming the story rather than describing it as learning a bit of how
Britney Spears must feel.
His captors had laughed, too, when they had told him in
the house where he was held in Baghdad that he had made it on to the
BBC and al-Jazeera.
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So he repeatedly stressed his Irish citizenship, telling the armed men about U2, Enya, the IRA, even a soap opera on Irish TV
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He was grabbed on Wednesday in the Sadr City area of Baghdad as he left an interview with some Iraqi citizens.
He described how he thought he'd been taken following
tensions between British forces and Shia militia in the southern city
of Basra.
He thought his captors believed he was British.
So he repeatedly stressed his Irish citizenship, telling
the armed men about U2, Enya, the IRA, even a soap opera on Irish TV;
and he drew a diagram of Europe, exaggerating the distance between
Britain and Ireland.
There was laughter amongst gathered journalists at this.
Highest bidder
Throughout his capture, there'd been the hope in Ireland
that somehow Mr Carroll's Irish passport might help him in his hour of
need.
He thanked the British, Irish and Iraqi governments for working to bring his release.
His worst fear was that he would be sold on to the highest bidder, and thus possibly fall into the hands of fanatical elements.
"We knew the outcome of other hostages taken before; so not only to be released alive, but so swiftly, was amazing."
A son safe and well was the best present a mum could have, said Mrs Carroll
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A world away from Baghdad, in a room packed with
photographers, reporters and cameramen, Mr Carroll stressed the
importance of journalists continuing to report on what was happening
there, despite such severe difficulties and dangers.
So would he be returning to Iraq anytime soon?
He joked that if he suggested it, he'd probably be locked in the garden shed.
At this point his mother, Kathy, gave him a huge hug.
'Lucky to survive'
She and her husband had watched the week's events unfold on TV from their home in south Dublin.
The day of Rory's release was her birthday, "the best
birthday present I could have had," she said, before another embrace
from her son.
"Happy birthday, Mum," he said. "I'm sorry they kidnapped your present."
After more photos and hugs, he was gone, to unwind at
home in Dublin, work out his next move, and reflect on a week which, by
his own admission, he was lucky to survive.
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Carroll news briefing
