Gardaí find five people, including girl aged three, in shipping container in Wexford

A three-year-old girl has been found in the back of a lorry in New Ross, Co Wexford.

The girl was found in the lorry at O’Leary International in Marshmeadows with three men and one woman on Sunday. All of the occupants of the container are from the Middle East. They told immigration officers they are Kurdish.

Wexford chief superintendent John Roche said the people with the child, all aged in their mid to late 20s, were found on Sunday at 6pm having travelled from Cherbourg on the Oscar Wilde ferry the previous day into Rosslare Europort.

They are thought to have entered an unaccompanied refrigerated container which was left in Cherbourg. The container was taken from a compound in the port city by a tug on Saturday and deposited on the ferry for the 18-hour journey to Ireland. The container was sealed by customs officials as it contained perishable goods.

Once at Rosslare Europort the container was transported by tug to a compound where it was picked up by a truck and taken to O’Leary International. Noises from the back of the lorry alerted one of the company’s staff who contacted gardaí.

Supt Roche said the refugees were taken to New Ross Garda station where they were medically assessed prior to being taken to Wexford garda station’s immigration unit.

They were processed and interviewed prior to being taken by gardaí to a refugee reception centre in Waterford where they spent the night prior to travelling to Dublin where they will apply for asylum-seeker status.

He said the matter is still under investigation and it is not known if they are related as the last names given are not similar. Supt Roche said there is an increased garda presence at Rosslare Europort this year, and that about 10 people including children, have been found hiding in the back of lorries and trailers and under trailers at Rosslare Europort.

“We search the majority of trucks coming into Rosslare Europort and we have found a lot of clandestines who are sent back to France. This container was sealed so we could not search it,” he said.