Pandemic curtails Irish arrests and jail time abroad

In 2019, 39 Irish citizens were jailed abroad, as compared to 22 in 2020 and just 20 last year. The pandemic accounts for the difference.

Over the last three years, the Department of Foreign Affairs has been notified of 480 Irish citizens arrested abroad. 81 were sent to jail, mostly in other European countries, according to records released under Freedom of Information.

The department said that not every Irish person who was arrested or imprisoned sought their assistance and there might be cases of which they were not aware.

There has been a marked decrease in the numbers of Irish people abroad getting into trouble with the law because the Covid-19 pandemic massively curtailed opportunities for travel.

In 2019, 243 Irish citizens were arrested, which was more than the number combined from 2020 (120 arrests) and 2021 (116 arrests).

The highest number of arrests was in Europe, at 315 people, whether in the EU or other parts of the continent.

There were 70 arrests in Asia and the Middle East, 42 in North America, and 29 in Australia and the rest of Oceania.

The department was also notified of 17 arrests in Africa and just six for all of South and Central America.

The number of Irish passport holders jailed also declined dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, 39 Irish were jailed abroad, as compared to 22 in 2020 and just 20 last year.

Of the 81 citizens imprisoned, 46 of them were in Europe and 23 in Australia or Oceania.

Three Irish people were jailed in Asia or the Middle East, six in North America, two in South or Central America, and just one in Africa.

The department declined to name the countries where arrests or imprisonments had taken place.

Help given included contacting family or friends, providing information on English-speaking lawyers, assistance to avoid discrimination, concerns about safety and treatment, and information about prison arrangements.

Assistance that is not provided includes getting people out of prison, paying fines, or giving guarantees to authorities on behalf of a person who was arrested.

They also said they were not able to provide legal advice, to financially support people while in prison, or to conduct investigations.

An information note added: "In most cases, visits are only possible after [the person has been] formally charged with an offence."