Limerick publican abducted by gunmen in Africa
According to reports, Ger Mulconroy was abducted at gunpoint while visiting Sierra Leone, bundled into a car outside his hotel and driven to a beach where he was rescued by local police.
A number of men arrested include security personnel attached to the country’s presidential guard.
Reports said Mr Mulconroy had gone to Sierra Leone to try and recover huge sums of money he and another businessman had invested in a local gold mining venture.
He was pursuing former associates through legal channels in Sierra Leone.
Police said the abduction was carried out to intimidate Mr Mulconroy and force him to drop his legal case.
Mr Mulconroy, 72, runs the Tail Race bar in Parteen, Co Limerick, where he lives with his wife Marie. They have two daughters, one of whom is a solicitor working in the Middle East.
Known locally as Flash, Mr Mulconroy was previously involved in a business venture in Moscow.
For many years he leased heavy machinery to Limerick City Council and also did contract work for a major pharmaceutical company in Shannon.
One local in Parteen said: “The whole place is flabbergasted that Flash has been at the centre of this thing in Africa. He is a very popular figure and great company.”
Mr Mulconroy recently underwent a heart bypass in a Dublin hospital.
Another source in Parteen said Mr Mulconroy does not display signs of affluence and drives an eight-year-old Volvo.
He is a member of the flying club at Coonagh Airfield and has a pilot’s licence.
It is believed Mr Mulconroy was on his way home to Ireland last night.
Strieby Logan, of the Sierra Leone police department investigating Mr Mulconroy’s abduction, said that they were treating the matter very seriously.
He said: “We cannot have potential investors coming to this country and being treated like this. He and his partner were going to invest a colossal amount of money – something that would have pushed the country forward.”
Many members of the presidential guard were former rebels who fought in the 11-year civil war which ended in 2002. One of those arrested was armed with a Glock semi-automatic handgun.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said an Irish national was being provided with consular assistance.
Cllr Cathal Crowe, who holds his clinics in Mr Mulconroy’s pub, said that he was shocked to hear what had happened in Sierra Leone.
Mr Crowe said: “I was only talking to him about two weeks ago when I was doing my clinic in his pub.
“We are delighted that he has come through this terrible ordeal and he is safe. He is a very well regarded person in the local community and everybody is relieved he is okay.”
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