Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has said that an assessment of how Donald Trump’s travel ban will be implemented at Irish airports, should be carried out.
Dublin and Shannon airports offer preclearance to passengers travelling to the US.
A number of Human Rights Organisations say it could violate a person’s rights under the Constitution, EU law or the European Convention on Human Rights.
Embassy Statement on POTUS Executive Order Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the U.S. Read https://t.co/XTnDRX4jRU pic.twitter.com/Dk02fuznJA
— U.S. Embassy Dublin (@USEmbassyDublin) January 28, 2017
Minister Paschal Donohoe says the way the system operates here should be looked at in light of the new rules:
“We should do so in the context that pre-clearance offers great opportunity and benefits to people who are looking to travel to Ireland and to America, and that is an essential part of how we engage in the outside world,” he said.
“And we should be careful that responding back to changes that are happening elsewhere that might make other countries more closed than we would hope that we don’t make changes here in Ireland, that we don’t make changes here in Ireland that reduce our openness.”
Airport authorities have confirmed the US president’s travel ban on citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries – Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – is being implemented by US officials in Ireland.
Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has written to Taoiseach Enda Kenny seeking an investigation into its operation at Dublin and Shannon.
She suggested it “may be unlawful” because the US-Ireland pre-clearance agreement upholds the rights of people under Irish law.
It is understood Ms Zappone is concerned that the implementation of the ban on Irish soil could amount to nationality and religion-based discrimination.
She also said Ireland has a moral obligation to “stand with our fellow human beings against discrimination of this kind”.
Speculation is mounting that more Independent government ministers will back Ms Zappone’s stance at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has also written to the Taoiseach urging him not to “allow Irish airports to enforce this fundamentally unjust order”.
A joint statement from five human rights organisations – including Amnesty, the Irish Council of Civil Liberties and the Irish Refugee Council – said the pre-clearance agreement means Irish police (gardaí) and immigration officials may be helping implement Mr Trump’s travel ban.
They have demanded an urgent review of the system including its suspension if a person’s rights under Irish and EU law are under threat.
“This executive order is a barely concealed attempt to discriminate on nationality and religious grounds, itself a gross violation of freely accepted international human rights obligations,” the statement said.
Junior Minister John Halligan said Mr Trump is “close to being a fascist” and has backed calls for Mr Kenny to snub the annual invite to the White House for the traditional gifting of a bowl of shamrock to the US president on St Patrick’s Day.
Labour leader Brendan Howlin and Green Party chief Eamon Ryan have also urged a boycott of the March 17 event.
But the Government has signalled Mr Kenny will travel for the face-to-face meeting “to maintain the historically strong links between the Irish and American peoples” and to outline Ireland’s viewpoint on several issues.
