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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