Ahern 'urged to press Colombia to free Irish trio'

The Government was today urged to continue putting pressure on the Colombian authorities to free the three Irish men in prison there.

Sinn Féin Assembly member Caitriona Ruane said they would be meeting Government officials to ensure pressure is being placed on the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

She also urged international human rights groups to maintain pressure on the Colombian administration.

Last month Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan were convicted of travelling on false passports to Colombia. They were acquitted of training Marxist Farc rebels.

However, the men have been detained in Colombia while prosecutors prepare an appeal of the court’s decision.

Last weekend Bertie Ahern met President Uribe in Mexico at a conference of EU and South American leaders.

He was promised that the authorities in Bogota would respond within a week to 10 days to the Dublin Government’s request for the legal process to be speeded up.

Miss Ruane, who also spearheads their Bring Them Back Home Campaign, said: “People have seen it as a very important initiative across the board apart from Fine Gael.

“We were disappointed by Enda Kenny’s intervention but I have had a private discussion with them about that.”

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has been critical of the Government’s contact with Colombian authorities.

Miss Ruane, Sinn Féin MLA member, was commenting at the launch of the party’s equality strategy in Dublin.

She said there were plans for an international delegation to go to the Colombian capital Bogota next week.

“I met with the government, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, and asked them to intervene with the authorities. The reason I did is Alvaro Uribe is a very powerful man,” said Miss Ruane.