Consular aid to 217 families for deaths abroad

The Department of Foreign Affairs assisted 217 families of people who died abroad last year and nearly 1,650 citizens who got into serious difficulties overseas.

The department’s latest involvement with bereaved families came as officials were in contact with the relatives of a 22-year-old Co Cavan man who was killed in a road accident in New Zealand last Friday night.

Martin Cadden from Loughduff, Mullahoran, who was on a working visa selling agricultural machinery, died after his car crashed into a tree.

According to figures released by the department, overseas help last year was provided to people who were variously arrested, involved in accidents, child abductions or admitted to hospital.

While consular assistance was provided to Irish citizens across the world, the highest number of cases occurred in Spain, followed by Australia, the US, Canada, Britain, France, Thailand, UAE and Portugal.

Services provided by the department also included the authentication of more than 60,000 Irish documents such as educational certificates, legal documents and company documents.

Meanwhile, the department registered more than 5,500 people for Irish citizenship through Foreign Births Registration.

The majority of these applications were received through the embassies and consulates in the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and South Africa, reflecting the large Irish communities living in these areas.

This represented an increase of 10% on the previous year.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlie Flanagan said his department also issued more than 3,000 Certificat de Coutume (civil letters of freedom) to Irish citizens getting married, or entering civil partnerships abroad.

The most popular countries for these ceremonies were Italy, Spain, Malta, France and Germany.

Fifty applications were also received from Irish citizens entering into same-sex civil partnerships abroad.

Mr Flanagan said his staff are deeply committed to assisting Irish citizens in difficulty and to helping Irish families at home dealing with distressing situations abroad.

“Ireland’s diplomats stand ready to respond quickly and effectively to urgent cases and emergency situations worldwide.”

He said having something go wrong on holidays can be stressful enough, without finding yourself unprepared and unable to pay for medical bills or other additional costs that arise as a result.

“By taking out suitable travel insurance before travelling, our citizens can ensure they are in the best position possible to help themselves in the unfortunate situation that something does go wrong abroad,” Mr Flanagan said.