Backpacker 3 receive twice the welcome after false start

IT was a case of second time lucky for three young US backpackers who were denied entry to Ireland a fortnight ago, as the three friends breezed through customs in Dublin to begin their holiday of a lifetime.

Colin Zwirko, 21, Gavin Sides, 19, and Ben Whitehurst, 21, arrived in Ireland earlier this month at the start of their dream trip to spend a year backpacking in Europe.

However, they were informed by an immigration official in Dublin Airport they could not enter Ireland because they lacked an address of where they planned to stay in Dublin as well as bank statements to prove that they could afford to travel.

Despite this, the three high school friends paid $1,850 (€1,330) of their own money to fly back to New York.

However, the friends, who have been dubbed the Plano three in their hometown of Plano, Texas, arrived yesterday morning with no problems.

In fact, their Irish jaunt has proven to be a sweet experience.

They have been provided with free accommodation by d4hotels for the duration of their stay as well as free mobile phones.

Chief executive of Cubic Telecom Pat Phelan was instrumental in getting the free board for the backpackers, and when he heard of the young men’s plight, he decided to do everything he could to ensure the young men could return to Ireland.

“When I heard the story, I just thought it was very, very embarrassing and reflected badly on Ireland Inc. I mean they were told they couldn’t prove they had the finance to stay here but then forked out all that money to fly back.”

“I mean the US is so welcoming to the Irish so I decided to pull out all the stops to help them out,” he said.

And pull out all the stops he did.

As well as getting on to d4hotels about putting a roof over the young men’s heads, Mr Phelan is also offering the backpackers free phones and covering their roaming charges during their stay.

So although it took two efforts to let the Plano three in, at least they got twice the welcome.