Chilean refugees feared as Communists

REFUGEES from Pinochet’s Chile were feared as anarchists and potential recruits for the IRA.

Minister for Justice Patrick Cooney stood alone in expressing grave reservations about allowing Chileans into the country, and took exception to a Government memorandum which indicated the support of all departments.

The Government was only considering allowing 12 families into the country, noting that, unlike the acceptance of Hungarian refugees in 1956, the Chileans would be looking for permanent resettlement rather than temporary asylum.