THE FAMILY OF a young Waterford man who has Type 1 diabetes and has been detained in Croatia have said that he “urgently” needs to be transferred to hospital.

Rory Byrne (22) went to Croatia with a group of friends and they were involved in a fracas with another group.

It’s understood that uncover police officers intervened and Byrne and a friend were arrested and placed in prison.

While the friend was later released, Byrne remains in prison.

“His friends all arrived home yesterday without him,” Byrne’s mother Niamh told The Journal.

She said the fracas was simply a case of the group “walking by the wrong place at the wrong time”.

She said Byrne was “denied access to his insulin from the moment he was in police custody”, despite his friends bringing it to the station several days in a row.

He has since received some insulin and Byrne’s father flew out to Croatia yesterday.

Niamh said Rory’s father was this morning granted a “10-minute visit in the prison, under guard and through Perspex glass”.

Rory told his father that he is “not being looked after medically in the prison” and his family have “urgently requested his transfer to hospital”.

Niamh said she understands that Rory was briefly taken to hospital this afternoon but taken back to prison shortly afterwards.

“I think they were ticking a box, that’s what it sounds like,” said Niamh.

She added: “It’s extremely distressing and we pray that he won’t be detained for any longer.”

She said that the prison service had initially stated that Rory had refused consular assistance but that this was not the case.

In a statement to The Journal this afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is aware of this case and is providing consular assistance.

“The different departments, offices, government bodies, everyone’s phenomenally working hard, but we are hitting an absolute obstacle with the prison service in Croatia,” said Niamh.

She added that Rory is “terrified” in prison and that the fracas was just a “few minutes that has turned into this situation”.

“We’re begging to make sure that he’s looked after medically.

“His medical treatment is vital. It’s complex and I don’t know if they understand that it’s not Type 2 diabetes, it’s Type 1.

“It’s horrendously stressful, worrying, frightening and distressing on lots of levels.

“If he’s admitted to hospital, everyone will at least know that medically he’s being looked after.

“It’s just it’s spiralling into a much worse situation as the hours are passing.”

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, local TD Conor McGuinness said that Byrne is “very, very unwell” and called on the Department of Foreign Affairs to “urgently intervene to ensure that his rights are upheld and that he can access medical intervention”.

McGuinness said there is a need for Byrne to be “transferred to a hospital facility given that he’s a number of days without insulin at the moment”.

In a statement to The Journal, McGuinness said it is “essential that Byrne is afforded all necessary medical and consular assistance”.

He added that consular officials are now in touch and that he will continue to monitor and engage with the situation.