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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that Lisa Smith, who has reportedly been detained in Syria, will be allowed to return to Ireland as it is the “compassionate” thing to do.
On Friday night it emerged that Smith, originally from Dundalk, was being held in northern Syria on suspicion of Islamic State membership.
Speaking in Dublin today, Varadkar said more information is needed on Smith’s case and that a security assessment will be carried before she is allowed return to Ireland.
“As an Irish citizen, she will have the right to return to Ireland, as will her child who’s an Irish citizen.
“But it’s not just as simple as coming here, and everything proceeding as if nothing had happened,” he said.
But ultimately this is an Irish citizen and we don’t believe that removing an Irish citizen’s citizenship from her or her family, rendering them stateless, would be either the right or compassionate thing to do.
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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said an investigation will need to be carried out into the case of Lisa Smith, an Irish woman suspected of involvement with IS in Syria, but that’s “its very possible she was never a combatant”. pic.twitter.com/F1n4gDMpN4
Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone said the Government would attend to the best interest of Smith’s two-year-old child, adding “I think that’s the way the government has always operated”.
Yesterday, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said that the State will make every effort to bring Smith home.
Flanagan told RTÉ’s The Week in Politics today: “I understand there is an Irish citizen… She’s keen to come home. Every effort will be made by Irish authorities to ensure she gets home.”
He added it’s a very complex situation, and that the relevant facts must be ascertained before further steps are taken.
This sentiment was echoed by Varadkar who told reporters that “going to Syria, going to live in what was called the Islamic State is not in itself an offence or a crime,” adding that the Government will need to carry out an investigation.
I know the authorities there want to interrogate her to see if she was involved in any crimes there, but it’s very possible that she was never a combatant for example.
“There may need to be a prosecution there and we need to make sure that if she does return to Ireland that she isn’t a threat to anybody,” Varadkar said.
Security sources have told TheJournal.ie that the woman left the Defence Forces in 2011 and married a Muslim man. She had earlier converted to Islam. It is believed she left for Syria in 2015 after her initial marriage broke down.
It is understood she is currently being detained by the US armed forces based in northern Syria.
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@Hannah Hannah: Biden will not be ranked near Trump’s current 4th worst position. However, I don’t believe he should run for re-election due to his age (please note the obvious implication about Trump as well). Biden’s administration has generally done an effective job (with some major and minor screw-ups and also some unexpected major successes and some expected major successes) and Biden has had the unfair advantage of following Trump, which distorts Biden’s public perception to the positive in almost every way possible. The problem is that the Democratic Party have done very little to establish another potential candidate in the public awareness.
Unfortunately he has not acquitted himself well in the role. But at least he was 100% better than that other option the Republican party were offering. It was most definitely a case of “ANYONE is better than letting Trump back into power.”
BIden is absolutely not up to it at all and it is more than essential that the Democratic party find the courage to break it to him . He is quite simply past it and I say it as someone who is a senior citizen myself . On the other hand while he is lost in a nostalgic daze about his Irishness Ireland is the lucky beneficiary . Meantime Hillary Clinton.on Late Late was absolutely flying it , bright as a button , wonderfully articulate .She can’t have been too focused on Bill though ,who looked so utterly ecstatic with the beautiful head of Mrs Colm Eastwood on his shoulder as they hugged each other during all that meet and greet .Hillary ,was robbed before of the top job but would make a great candidate still .
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