IRISH WORKERS WHO escaped from Libya have criticised the Government for its handling of the evacuation attempts.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs told TheJournal.ie that it is doing all it can to evacuate those who want to be evacuated. He said that it is a difficult situation, particularly as Ireland is not represented on the ground in Libya.

He added that all the Irish citizens in Libya are “either out or coming out, or else they want to stay in the country – we are in close contact with them all”. Trouble broke out in the North African state two weeks ago.

In today’s Irish Daily Star, an Irish worker blasted the Government after he and four colleagues were left stuck in the city of Benghazi for a fortnight.

The men work with Dublin-based Mercury Engineering and arrived home safely to their families in Ireland yesterday. One of the men, Conor Molloy, described the Department’s handling of the situation as “unacceptable”.

He said the Irish citizens were advised to go to Tripoli, but the capital city was in chaos. The men eventually left the stricken country on a Greek-owned boat before flying back to Dublin from Frankfurt airport.

Read more in today’s Irish Daily Star.