Latest news with #IvanaBacik
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Four members of CHI board have resigned in last week
Clip • 6 Mins • 28 MAY • Morning Ireland Ivana Bacik, leader of the Labour Party, calls for Children's Health Ireland to come under the remit of the HSE.
The Journal
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
US plane believed to have transported illegally deported people lands in Shannon on return trip
THE PLANE BELIEVED to have carried eight illegally deported people from the United States earlier this week has returned to Shannon Airport this morning. On Thursday, Tánaiste Simon Harris, who is also the minister for foreign affairs, said his department was investigating whether the flight carrying the eight people to East Africa had stopped at the airport. Gardaí in Shannon told The Journal on Thursday that the flight is believed to have been a deportation flight that stopped in Ireland. The New York Times reported this week that the flight's departure from the US had violated a court order. The eight people believed to have been carried on the flight are now being held in Djibouti, with their ultimate destination being South Sudan. The Gulfstream V aircraft, which is registered in the US, appears to have left Egypt this morning, flown across the Mediterranean and the European continent, and landed in Shannon at around 8:45am today. Advertisement It is routine that US flights land at Shannon to refuel. Some are military while most, including the Gulfstream GV, are operated by civilian charter companies. The plane has since departed Shannon Airport. Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who raised the issue of the initial flight in the Dáil this week, told The Journal : 'If the flight has indeed landed back at Shannon this morning, then I am very concerned that this could represent Ireland's continued complicity in the aggressive and illegal migration policies being pursued by the Trump administration'. 'I would also be concerned that we are continuing to allow planes to refuel at Shannon or fly through Irish airspace en route to deliver weapons of genocide to Israel. She again called on Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien to provide 'clarity on what exactly is going on at Shannon'. With reporting from Niall O'Connor and Conor O'Carroll Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Dept of Transport making 'inquiries' over stopping of US deportees flight in Shannon
The Taoiseach has said that the Department of Transport is continuing to make "inquiries" in relation to a US plane carrying deportees which reportedly stopped at Shannon Airport this week. It was reported in the New York Times that an aircraft with a number of people on board landed at the Co Clare airport on Tuesday night. The newspaper said the flight landed in Shannon at around 9.39pm for around two hours, before continuing its journey to the African nation of Djibouti. Speaking to reporters in Cork, Micheál Martin said "we need to be careful about a knee-jerk reaction to one individual flight, if that's the case". However, he confirmed that Department of Transport officials are seeking answers over the flight. The incident was raised by Labour leader Ivana Bacik in the Dáil yesterday. "These are deportation flights which are illegal, taking place in violation of a US court order," she said. "In other words, an Irish airport has been used as an instrument to violate human rights," she added. When asked about the incident, the Taoiseach said that there are "various international and legal agreements pertaining to aircraft landing and re-fuelling" in other countries. He said this means "it wouldn't have been immediately apparent there were deportees [from the US] on any flights", and that "further inquiries are being made by the Department of Transport". Asked if all civilian flights now need to be reviewed or checked, the Taoiseach said: "I think we need to be careful about a knee-jerk reaction to one individual flight, if that's the case." "We'll assess it [the situation], these are issues we will review and we will take a position on," he said.
The Journal
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Tánaiste concerned about 'aggressive' US deportations after Shannon flight
TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS has expressed concern over the Trump administration's 'aggressive' deportation policy after a plane containing US deportees was found to have landed in Shannon this week. The Tánaiste was pressed on the issue by Labour leader Ivana Bacik during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil on Thursday where she claimed Ireland is being 'used as an instrument to violate human rights' in the illegal deportation of migrants. 'These are deportation flights that are illegal and taking place in violation of a US court order,' Bacik said. The Journal received confirmation from gardaí yesterday that the flight stopped in Shannon Airport on Wednesday en route to Africa. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the status of the plane in a statement released yesterday. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports that a US flight on 21 May landed in Shannon en route to Djibouti. 'This was a civil aircraft, and as such, no diplomatic clearance would have been sought or would have been required.' The Journal has established that the plane, a Gulfstream V, landed in Shannon and spent approximately two hours on the ground. It is not known as yet if gardaí or immigration officials had any interactions with the plane during its time at the airport. A federal judge in Boston ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration had 'unquestionably' violated a court order by deporting eight criminals to South Sudan without hearing their objections. A lawyer for some of the deportees on the flight stopping at Shannon told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that she only learned that her clients had been removed from the US after seeing television reports about their landing in Shannon. Trina Realmuto said: 'I guess at this point, this far into this administration, I can't say I'm shocked that the [US] Government is defying court orders, but given that just recently, on May 7, we we had to go to court and and try to stop a flight of people who were about to be deported to Libya, I am surprised that so shortly after that, we had to run him to court to try to stop a flight to South Sudan.' Advertisement U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents guide undocumented migrants into a military plane in Texas. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said those on the flight were the 'worst of the worst' individuals, including child rapists. The logistics of the flight Ivana Bacik questioned whether the flight also landed in Shannon on its way back to the US. 'We understand that one of the planes in question, flight JNY588A, [was] due to refuel at Shannon Airport on its return journey from Sudan later today [Thursday night] at about 9.30 p.m., according to flight logs,' Bacik added. She went on to further attack the 'barrage of revelations' about flights from America refuelling in Shannon en route to Israel to deliver weapons, claiming the State's position 'remains something of a mystery'. Harris acknowledged the arrival of the deportation flight on Wednesday, and said he spoke with Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien about the matter. 'Officials from my Department are liaising with the Department of Transport, the Department of Justice, and the US authorities,' Harris said. Addressing the approach of the Trump administration to deportations, Harris said: 'I am concerned about some of the aggressive migration policy we see being pursued in the United States of America. 'If we had a deportation flight landing in another country, there would be a presumption that those on the flight were lawfully detained. 'I am trying to piece together here information that is coming at us, in the first instance through US media, and the decision of the US courts. He added: 'I am very happy to keep in close contact with the Deputy and with this House because I recognise there is significant public interest and public concern in relation to this.' With reporting from Niall O'Connor Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Irish Sun
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Govt probe after flight carrying US deportees ‘stopped at Shannon Airport' as furious TD slams ‘violates human rights'
THE Government is probing shock reports that a flight carrying deportees from the US to Africa against a judge's order stopped at an Irish airport. The New York Times laid bare how a jet carrying eight deportees, described by a US Homeland Security official as 'barbaric' and 'violent', stopped at Shannon Airport in Co Clare this week. Advertisement 3 Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security Credit: AP:Associated Press 3 Furious Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik branded the revelations as 'shocking' Credit: � 2024 PA Media, All Rights Reserved The controversial flight came after a judge in Flight-tracking data showed how a Gulfstream jet owned by a private company stopped off at Shannon at around 9.39pm US time on Tuesday after earlier leaving an airport in From It is reported the final destination of the eight deportees is South Sudan. Advertisement READ MORE ON IRISH NEWS Amid a storm over the deportation flight, He said: 'I'm trying to establish the facts on this now in real time, because I'm aware of the US media reports.' But the Dail heard claims Ireland could be complicit in illegal US deportations. Furious Labour Party leader Advertisement Most read in Irish News She stormed: 'These are deportation flights which are illegal, taking place in violation of a US court order. 'In other words, an Irish airport has been used as an instrument to violate human rights.' Moment deported Tren de Aragua gang inmates scream and rattle cells at US officials in notorious El Salvador mega-prison Bacik said she understands that one of the planes was due to refuel at Shannon Airport on its return journey from Sudan tonight. Following a frenzy over the deportation flight, US officials called a hastily arranged press conference. Advertisement Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security, stressed the gravity of the crimes committed by the deportees. She said: 'We conducted a deportation flight from Texas to remove some of the most barbaric violent individuals illegally in the United States. "No country on Earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so monstrous and barbaric. Every single one of them was convicted of a heinous crime – murder, rape, child rape.' Among those believed to be being deported are men from Vietnam, Cuba, Myanmar, Laos and Mexico. Advertisement But their removal took place in conflict with the instructions of a US district judge, Massachusetts-based Brian E Murphy. 3 From Shannon, the aircraft travelled on to an airport in Djibouti, arriving there on Wednesday Credit: Alamy
