Irish republicans released from Canadian custody, group says
Three members of an Irish republican group who were barred entry to Canada have been released from jail in Toronto and have returned home to Ireland, the group says.
A spokesperson for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (or 32 CSM), which advocates for unification of Ireland and opposes the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, says its members arrived home Friday morning after they were held at the Maplehearst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ont.
“They are all exhausted and need time to recuperate,” the spokesperson said in an electronic message.
The three men were booked on a six-day speaking tour in Canada but were deemed inadmissible upon arriving at Pearson International Airport, 32CSM said. The group called the decision to bar their members “a direct violation of freedom of speech” and an attempt to silence Irish republicans.
The group held a small demonstration outside the Canadian Embassy in Dublin in protest on Friday.
Citing privacy legislation, the Canada Border Services Agency has refused to even confirm the men were detained. Calls to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney’s office were not returned.
The group is not currently a listed terrorist entity in Canada but has been linked by reports to the Real Irish Republican Army, which is banned in United States.
Public Safety Canada warned in a 2013 report that “several dissident Irish Republican groups, including the Real Irish Republican Army, have launched or attempted a number of attacks in Northern Ireland in the past year.”
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (or 32 CSM) denies reported links to the Real Irish Republication Army, and has denounced the 1998 Omagh car bombing for which the Real IRA was blamed.
