Pressure’s mounting on the Taoiseach to raise the case of Irish people detained by ICE when he meets Donald Trump in Washington on St Patrick’s Day.
Figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs show 66 Irish citizens faced deportation procedures in the US last year.
Yesterday, the case of Kilkenny man Seamus Culleton, who’s been held in Texas since last September, was revealed by the Irish Times – following that his sister Caroline Culleton told The KCLR Daily of the ordeal;
While Seamus’ wife Tiffany Smyth also discussed what’s been going on;
The Labour party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Deputy Duncan Smith, says the Kilkenny man’s case is absolutely harrowing; “I think Micheál Martin will but he needs to do so as forcefully as possible and state that Irish citizens need to be treated with basic human rights, we would not accept an Irish citizen being treated the way Seamus Culleton’s being treated by any country in the world, there would be absolute uproar, the fact he’s in the United States should not in any way deter for our Government and our leaders from calling unequivocally for his release”.
KCLR News has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment and also local political representatives – stay tuned for updates.
