Freed aid worker returns to Ireland

An Irish aid worker touched down on home soil after being held captive for almost four months in war-torn Sudan.

There were emotional scenes as Sharon Commins arrived back in Dublin on a Government jet for a long-awaited reunion with her relieved parents, Mark and Agatha.

The 32-year-old beamed as she hugged her parents, her brothers Derek and Martin, and their partners.

“Up until now all of it was just a dream,” said Ms Commins, moments after the jet landed at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, just before midnight last night.

“I dreamt so often when I was on top of a mountain of getting back to Ireland.

“This is the first time it’s not a dream and I hope I don’t wake up on top of a mountain in a few minutes.”

Her mum said: “It’s just amazing, it’s amazing.”

Miss Commins and her Ugandan colleague Hilda Kawuki were released in the early hours of Sunday morning after 107 days in captivity

She earlier revealed she was scared, anxious and stressed throughout her 107 day ordeal, with her abductors staging mock executions by shooting around her as she knelt on their knees.

Miss Commins also embraced Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, whose officials worked extensively to secure the women's release.

Mr Martin, who travelled to Sudan in September to meet authorities, said her safe return home was a great relief.

“In the background you were always afraid that something might go wrong despite the fact that the kidnapping, to a certain extent, was following the patterns of earlier kidnappings, so it was a time of considerable worry and concern,” said the minister.

“We knew from early on that Sharon was a special type of person, a strong person, good mental resilience and it was just incredible that both herself and Hilda held themselves together throughout that three months plus.

“It’s a huge testament to their courage and ability to stay the course through what was a very traumatic and difficult ordeal.”

President Mary McAleese will host a reception for the aid worker, her friends and family, and the agencies who supported them and helped secure her release, at her official residence in Dublin, Aras an Uachtarain, on Thursday.

The Dublin aid worker was in Darfur with the humanitarian organisation Goal when she and Miss Kawuki were kidnapped in the northern town of Kutum on July 3.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said it had not paid a ransom to end the captivity – understood to be one of the longest running of any foreign aid staff in the region.

Mr Martin said they instead worked closely with the Sudanese government, resulting in high powered influential tribal chieftains negotiating with the abductors.

The Irish Ambassador to Sudan, Gerry Corr, travelled to Darfur to meet with the two women on their release and the Government jet was dispatched to Khartoum to bring Miss Commins home to the military airport.

Mr Martin, who waited with her friends and colleagues, praised the aid worker’s family for their strength.

“We knew at first hand the real trauma and difficulty that the family was going through, but they were very solid throughout,” he added.

“Despite the huge emotional impact on the family they worked with us throughout and their forbearance, their fortitude and resilience was something special.”