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Former IRA prisoner Brennan deported to Republic of Ireland in shackles

Irishman says he'll remain in Republic 'for quite a while'

By
KENNETH HAYNES,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:36 AM
Updated Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:49 AM

 

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Pol Brennan
Pol Brennan

Former Irish political prisoner and Maze escapee Pol Brennan was shackled as he was deported on Friday to the Republic of Ireland, where he says he intends to remain “for quite a while” before deciding whether to return to Northern Ireland.

"I was shackled, hands and feet, the whole way," Brennan told the Belfast Telegraph. "And the plane was as cold as a refrigerator once we got out over the Atlantic. “You could have hung meat in that sucker. I couldn’t feel my legs for about six hours. I couldn’t sleep. How could you sleep in a refrigerator?”

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official explained that “the restraints were for officer safety and are standard procedure when deporting aliens with criminal convictions. Mr. Brennan had significant criminal convictions.”

Brennan, who had been in America since entering under an alias a year after breaking out of the Maze prison alongside 37 IRA prisoners, said the operation began at 8am Texas time on Thursday.

He said that he was first taken to a processing room at the Port Isabel detention center in Los Fresnos, Texas. Brennan was then taken outside and put into a van and driven in a three-vehicle convoy about 28 miles to an airport at Harlingen, Texas.

The 56-year-old, who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years, was flown to Norfolk, Virginia on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft before continuing on to Limerick, Ireland.

Following a series of criminal convictions in Britain and the U.S., the Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals ordered that Brennan be deported from the States.

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9 Comments

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Posted by citizen69 on Jun 16, 2010, 05:01 PM EDT
The less terrorists in the USA the better.
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Posted by murphy66 on Jun 15, 2010, 04:38 PM EDT
A black eye for America. I'm ashamed.
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Posted by feliciamaisey on May 14, 2010, 01:04 PM EDT
I am curious to know how and when he obtained a work permit, which infers he set up a legal life stateside. I am also wondering how he feels being back in Ireland, with so many political changes that have been occurring since he escaped the Maze. There seems ot be many things not up for discussion, and it is confusing how he was permitted to stay when in California and then years later when there is a Peace Treaty etc. he is sent packing.
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Posted by MikeyMurphs on May 12, 2010, 09:27 AM EDT
He should have been welcomed with Open Arms after getting out of the Maze, they all shouldn't have been there in the first place.
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Posted by shuvonn on May 11, 2010, 09:26 PM EDT
phoenixnurse: you do not know whether his trip here initially was premeditated, I love it when people claim to be able to read the minds of others. AND if you read and paid attention to the story, his work permit has expired which meant he HAD a work permit, negating your illegal immigrant theory also. You do not speak for AMERICAN'S, and I did not see any evidence that he bashed this country. There are many of you that have not lived under the type of oppression that some people have been forced to do. So you have NO idea what you might choose to do...NEVER say NEVER....
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Posted by howareya on Jan 27, 2010, 12:27 PM EST
I agree with phoenixnurse, however, it would be nice if they applied the rules universally!
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Posted by FourOaksFarms on Jan 15, 2010, 10:23 AM EST
It looks like Madeleine is one of those conservatives who cannot find anything right about what any Democrat does. Janet Napolitano did exactly what her predecessor Michael Chertoff would have done, absolutely nothing. Would she have minded that, no. So what is the problem? If you break the law, you must pay the price...
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Posted by phoenixnurse on Jan 15, 2010, 09:27 AM EST
No, Janet Napolitano for once did her job! What part of Illegal do you not understand? This man came here illegally and it was premeditated! Life is about choices and we all know right from wrong! There are many of us who would never do things like this or enter another country illegally...Americans have had it with people who come here for the "Wrong Reasons"...they are sick and tired of immigrants coming here who detest our political system, our laws, and "Bash" this country.... We are a nation of laws and the majority of Americans obey and follow them. This country is NOT governed by certain nationalities and some of you need to realize that! When you enter America legally... you are a "Guest". It's unfortunate what happened to Mr. Brennan, but this is the price he pays.
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Posted by Madeleine on Dec 22, 2009, 12:43 PM EST
Janet Napolitano didn't intervene because he is not an illegal Mexican, he should have changed his name to Juanito Brennan and maybe she would have helped.
 


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