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Richard O'Halloran was finally reunited with his family in recent weeks. Tara O'Halloran/Twitter

Richard O'Halloran says he felt abandoned by the Irish government while he was stuck in China

O’Halloran believes Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney “didn’t engage” with his case on the advice of senior advisors.

IRISH BUSINESSMAN RICHARD O’Halloran has criticised the level of support he received from the Irish government while he was stuck in China for nearly three years.

O’Halloran arrived back in Ireland late last month after a deal was struck between Irish and Chinese authorities.

The aviation leasing executive was prevented from leaving China despite never personally being accused of any wrongdoing.

In an emotional interview on RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor programme, O’Halloran said he visited the Irish consulate in Shanghai after he was blocked from leaving China, but he was told it was a commercial matter and it couldn’t engage.

“I thought the Irish government, the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs], the consul, the embassy network, was supposed to help Irish citizens abroad and I was being told that ‘this is a commercial matter we can’t engage’,” O’Halloran said.

And I was saying ‘what part of the police being involved is this a commercial matter, I’m being restricted from leaving China. What do I do?’  

The returned businessman expressed enormous gratitude to his wife Tara for raising their family and keeping him going while he was forced to remain in China.

“My life has been on hold for three years but Tara has had to bring up four kids on her own,” he said. “It was almost like a forced divorce, which I would not wish on anyone.”

O’Halloran said he felt “totally” abandoned by the Department of Foreign Affairs as he was met with “radio silence” during the first year of his ordeal.

He said visits to the consulate in Shanghai were merely “chit-chats” and he believes Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney “didn’t engage” on the advice of senior advisors.

Tara O’Halloran said the family were initially advised that the best way to bring Richard home was to remain quiet and not cause a fuss.

Richard had also been warned that his personal safety was not guaranteed if Tara spoke to the media.

The family pursued this approach for approximately a year, to no avail. O’Halloran’s health deteriorated severely during the ordeal due to anxiety and stress. He also turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism.

Richard said business man Ulick McEvaddy played a key role in resolving the matter by agreeing to join the board of the company, giving Coveney confidence that it was legitimate.

He said the resolution of legal matters relating to the company was key to him being allowed home, but acknowledged that diplomacy also played a part.

“All the heavy lifting had been done by me. All the way right up to, let’s call it, the end of November/December.

“There was obviously a dialogue between Simon Coveney and his counterpart in China; Simon did read me a letter that his counterpart wrote to him and it was very clear, the court had to go through a process. It had to, and that was fair enough. And I had to deliver what I was being asked, which I did, and more.”

When asked, O’Halloran said he would thank Coveney and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“Obviously, they did do stuff behind the scenes. I certainly thank Simon Coveney for what he did. In the end, I’m here. So, obviously, there’s evidence he did do some heavy lifting. I don’t know what. He was liaising with his counterpart, but I don’t know what was done.”

O’Halloran added that he wanted to make it abundantly clear that the Irish state never provided a guarantee, or made any payments for his release or on behalf of his company.

Tara said it was in “poor taste” that the Department of Foreign Affairs thanked Chinese officials after Richard was released.

“I think it was kind of in poor taste given what Richard had to go through and the ordeal that we’d all faced for three years. I certainly didn’t think it was necessary. And it was quite upsetting for our family,” she said.

An emotional Richard also paid tribute to the support the family received from Irish people during the ordeal.

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    Mute The Bolt
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    Feb 12th 2022, 12:57 PM

    You don’t need to be stick in China to feel like you’ve been abandoned by the Irish government.

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    Mute Hugh Morris
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:36 PM

    @The Bolt: brilliant

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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:00 PM

    @The Bolt: For Orientals loosing face is hiper important. Thanking them is a required condition in such circumstances. DFA know what was required and did it. With a different approach Richard would still be held.

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    Mute Hugh Morris
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:02 PM

    @Tom Molloy: you’re ruining a perfectly good joke

    59
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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:42 PM

    @Hugh Morris: Living in a totalitarian Country, ideology or cult is no joke and the rules that we live under and enjoy do not apply.

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    Mute Thomas Harrington
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    Feb 12th 2022, 11:50 PM

    @Tom Molloy: fair point or we could have held 100 of their business men on spurious charges …. Just saying

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    Mute Muhammad Shahbaz
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    Feb 13th 2022, 4:56 AM

    @The Bolt:he isn’t Ibrahim halwa.

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    Mute James Kerins
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    Feb 13th 2022, 11:19 AM

    @Tom Molloy: you’re still ruining the joke Tom…

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    Mute David Bourke
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:07 PM

    I have sympathy for his family, but I hope he learned a valuable lesson about doing business with tyrannical totalitarian regimes who trample on human rights. He only experienced a tiny microcosm of what many innocent people experience if they get on the wrong side of the CCP.

    The Chinese Communist Party regularly kills people who say things they don’t like. That is a fact. The people of Hong Kong have lost their freedoms, and now Taiwan is being threatened too. Nobody with a spine and a moral bone in their body should be doing business with China.

    Boycott, divest, sanction. Don’t do business with China if you care about human rights or civil liberties.

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Feb 12th 2022, 3:41 PM

    @David Bourke: nobody with a spine and a moral bone in their body should be doing business with China? … so you’ll practice what you preach by not buying anything Chinese? The device you wrote your comment on, most, if not all the electronic components in your car, your house, wi-fi, TV, etc. All there because someone did business with China on your behalf. You’ll be back to pen and paper so.

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    Mute Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin
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    Feb 12th 2022, 4:07 PM

    @David Bourke: Do you buy or use products made in China or made with Chinese components?

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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Feb 12th 2022, 4:21 PM

    @Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: We should set up ‘Irish Takeaway’ restaurants en masse across China, that’ll teach em.

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    Mute David Bourke
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    Feb 12th 2022, 9:11 PM

    @Fr. Fintan Stack:

    I do avoid Chinese products where I can. And yes, as you have identified, that is increasingly difficult, often impossible.

    What should I do about that “Fintan”? Shrug my sholders and ignore the fact that a totalitarian state is growing in power and taking control of global supply chains?

    Businesses should be pressured away from doing business with china specifically for the reasons you gave. I have no choice but to buy from China when I want to buy many items.

    So what’s your solution?

    23
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    Mute David Bourke
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    Feb 12th 2022, 9:13 PM

    @Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin:

    As little as possible. What’s your point? I’m not the one making decisions that push us towards a reliance on a totalitarian state.

    7
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    Mute Peter Walsh
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    Feb 13th 2022, 9:16 AM

    @David Bourke: what a completly mo-ronic view. You do know there are dozens of thousands of irish companies alone dealing in China right? Get a grip pal and cop da phuck on

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    Mute Con Cussed
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    Feb 13th 2022, 9:29 AM

    @Peter Walsh: pot calling the kettle black! The Irish companies need to wake up. They are indirectly helping keep a totalitarian regime in place. The Chinese military has been built on western investment.

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    Mute Charles McCarthy
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    Feb 13th 2022, 9:52 AM

    @David Bourke: Fintan and Sorcha are your typically “whataboutery” merchants, no understanding of economics and no solutions either. The reliance on china is as you say now in the hands of business. The idea that we as consumers can at this stage “shop” elsewhere is laughable. China now have a monopoly. The situation has been foisted upon people on the back of corporate greed. We are conditioned into believing that if we want to keep costs down, products have to be sourced in china while ignoring all the other reasons we should not be doing business with them. Amazing how Google and FB are being hammered regarding monopolistic behaviour but mention China and its crickets. Corporate Greed, nothing else.

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Feb 13th 2022, 4:38 PM

    @Charles McCarthy: did you even read the posts preceeding your little rant? I never said I had any solution. The poster you are some how trying to defend suggests people should boycot or not do business with China. That was his solution. That was my whole point, you can’t avoid doing business with China. Next time you respond to a post take your head out of your own a*** and try reading what you are responding to first.

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    Mute Mick McGuinness
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    Feb 12th 2022, 12:56 PM

    There must be an election coming up only reason Government done anything, looking for brownie points.

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    Mute John Johnes
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:00 PM

    @Mick McGuinness: ofc , its beyond obvious. The ratings are below mud , so they are looking for good fast and easy pr.

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    Mute Oliver Curley
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:17 PM

    @John Johnes: China very difficult to deal with. They have huge powers and don’t give a shit what the outside world thinks. I think the Irish government displayed great patience and diplomacy , he should be grateful to get home. A lot went on behind the scenes

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    Mute Michael
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:28 PM

    @Oliver Curley: I’d say he knows more than you about what when on behind the scenes..to be fair…

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    Mute Oliver Curley
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:29 PM

    @Michael: doubtful by his comments

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    Mute SM
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:41 PM

    @Oliver Curley: tell us Oliver, what went on behind the scenes? We are all waiting for your Netflix doc to come out and give us the real facts about something you had absolutely no interaction with.

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    Mute James Lough
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:00 PM

    @Oliver Curley: a politician,l if ever there was one. Is it yourself Leo ?

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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:07 PM

    @James Lough: It’s Mick McG and the usual comments team that politicise this and everything.

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    Mute FiannaFáilness FineGaelness
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:53 PM

    @Tom Molloy: Can you not see that this was/is a political issue to begin with? Everything is politicised because everything is politics.

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    Mute John O Mahony
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    Feb 12th 2022, 7:38 PM

    @Oliver Curley: lol

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    Mute Tom Kelly
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:14 PM

    SHAFTED
    Thus poor man had nothing to do with the aviation agreement, he only joined the company afterwards, and went to China to try and help.
    And left high and dry by the Irish government.
    I know who I won’t be voting for next time around.
    I’m embarrassed foro Richard and what he had to indefinitely endure.
    I might add, I don’t know this man, but have followed what little the media shared.

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    Mute
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    Feb 12th 2022, 3:13 PM

    @Tom Kelly: do you mind me asking who you’d vote for next time around. I doubt the CCP would listen to any interference from any politician regardless of party. I would think what was going on was a lot of talking between various groups DFA Chinese politicians embassy staff ours there’s deals been done etc. for example Richard was asked would he ever return to China he replied “ I can’t “ so clearly deals were done away from what us plebs know. So regardless if it was FG FF SF PBP who’s in power next the softly softly approach takes time especially with the Chinese.

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    Mute Disco Inferno
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    Feb 12th 2022, 4:17 PM

    @Tom Kelly: high and dry how exactly? What type of pressure can a tiny island on the west of Europe place upon one of the globes largest superpowers? In the position of the government, what would you have done better

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    Mute Jonathan O'Riordan
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    Feb 12th 2022, 4:25 PM

    @: except when XI wants it NOW. Stop dealing with this brutal regime, close the Confucius institutes here and stop taking blood money from those wanting to study here

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    Mute Darren Callaghan
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    Feb 12th 2022, 6:36 PM

    @Disco Inferno: feck the government use the Cork fishermen for situations like this, they have just a couple of weeks ago convinced the Russians to move their planned naval exercises so China be not a bother to those lads :)

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    Mute David F. Dwyer
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:23 PM

    Western businessman: Human rights abuses in China are just for the natives. I’ll be grand.

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    Mute Tim Herlihy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:13 PM

    i was listening to radio this morning himself and wife came across very good he spoke very well which must have been hard, i say he wont leave these shores for a spell

    122
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    Mute Richard Carroll
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    Feb 12th 2022, 3:28 PM

    Glad the man finally got back home with his family. We can’t rely of the Irish government at home never mind being half way across the world. While I don’t have any love for the Irish Government, I do think Simon Coveney is one of the more genuine politicians around at this moment in time.

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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 1:31 PM

    Richard also said that he wants to talk to minister as the successful outcome of his situation can be used by other EU governments if similar cases arise in the future.

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    Mute Hugh Morris
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:03 PM

    @Tom Molloy: 3 years is a success?

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    Mute Hotirish
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    Feb 13th 2022, 9:53 AM

    @Hugh Morris: yes getting your freedom from that regime is a success no matter how long it took.

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    Mute Charles McCarthy
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    Feb 13th 2022, 10:16 AM

    @Hugh Morris: Eh that would chinese time Hugh, not irish time.

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    Mute Rob Gale
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    Feb 12th 2022, 4:36 PM

    And every Fine Gael member were tweeting what an amazing job Coveney did. Shows that they literally had no idea and were only using it to make it seem like he’s good as his job to deflect from the negative attention he’s getting for all his eff ups.

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    Mute Stephen Murphy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 2:54 PM

    irish government can hardly compete with the Chinese communist government.

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    Mute Kevin50
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    Feb 12th 2022, 5:28 PM

    When you deal internationally especially with different cultures you need to check out who you are dealing with. The world is full of con artists who on the surface seem plausible. It’s not the government’s fault that his company got involved in doing business with an unsavoury individual. His company was reckless and are guilty by association. He was naive at best travelling to China. Let it be a lesson. Another example was the ventilators and PPE bought in China for the HSE by Irish distribution companies trying make a fast buck.

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    Mute raymond flynn
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    Feb 12th 2022, 4:06 PM

    I would love that the real truth would come out some day.

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    Mute Paddy Leahy
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    Feb 12th 2022, 6:14 PM

    We all feel the same way abandoned by fg ff government

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    Mute John O Mahony
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    Feb 12th 2022, 7:37 PM

    Obviously not deemed elite enough by the government. Welcome home sir

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Feb 13th 2022, 3:17 AM

    It must have been an horrific time for Mr O’Halloran and his family but honestly wondering what else could have been done and he acknowledges that work was going on behind the scenes.
    “When asked, O’Halloran said he would thank Coveney and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

    “Obviously, they did do stuff behind the scenes. I certainly thank Simon Coveney for what he did. In the end, I’m here. So, obviously, there’s evidence he did do some heavy lifting. I don’t know what. He was liaising with his counterpart, but I don’t know what was done.”

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    Mute Raymond Barry
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    Feb 12th 2022, 6:43 PM

    More egg on Covenys face.

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    Mute Kieran O'Donovan
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    Feb 13th 2022, 7:04 AM

    @Raymond Barry: why? He’s home isn’t he? Should Coveney have sent our special forces to China to extract him? Get a grip. Ireland were massively mismatched in this situation and the man is now back with his family.

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    Mute Hotirish
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    Feb 13th 2022, 9:48 AM

    Seems a bit ungrateful to me.

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    Mute Liam Mc Meel
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    Feb 12th 2022, 9:00 PM

    Ah God love him

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