Limerick players latest to suffer at US Immigration crackdown

THE clampdown on GAA players travelling to New York by US Immigration authorities at Shannon Airport continued over the weekend with three Limerick players refused permission to board a flight.

The three Owen O'Neill, Peter Lawlor and Eugene Mulcahy were the only ones turned back from the flight. They were due to play for Limerick against Connecticut in the New York SHC semi-final.

The get-tough immigration policy was revealed recently in the Irish Examiner and appears to represent a change in attitude by US authorities.

Two of the three, Lawlor and Mulcahy, had never been to New York before, but the third, Owen O'Neill has a long association with the Limerick club there., stretching back several years

O'Neill said yesterday that he felt their arrival was anticipated.

"They knew who we were playing for, knew who we were playing, knew the tickets were all paid for by one person in the States, knew what time the tickets were left for us," he said.

"They knew so much about us that you have to be suspicious.

"I don't know, but I do know that my passport has been stamped now, 'refused admission', which means I now have to apply for a visa whenever I go out, and I may not get that.

"I've gone out there a good few times, many times on occasions that had nothing to do with hurling, and I've never had any hassle whatsoever. I've never even had to explain what I was going for, you just say you're going out there for a holiday, that's all. Now, I can never again go in on just the holiday waiver.

"I pleaded with the officer not to stamp the passport, but she told me she had to, or she would lose her job. Whatever they felt we were doing wrong, I don't think it warranted that. As far as I was concerned, everything was above board, we went through Croke Park, the whole thing.

"On all the other occasions we've gone through, we've always had a good laugh with American Immigration. They always knew what we were doing, that we were going out to New York to play a game, and there was never any problem. This has come completely out of the blue. Why now? What's changed? September 11 was mentioned, but I told her I was there since then. In fact, I normally brought my hurleys on the plane with me you can replace a lost pair of boots, but not lost hurleys. After September 11, I had to check them in, but again, there was no problem.

"We were expected, they knew too much about us, but they did tell us we were only victims in this."

O'Neill also questioned the basis on which they'd been refused entry.

"They told us that if we were playing for an Irish team travelling out there, we'd have been okay, but that we should apply for a professional athlete/entertainer visa, because we were playing in front of a paying audience, with an American team.

"What's the difference between us and Sligo, who played New York in New York earlier this year in the Connacht championship? There was an admission charge for that game, did they have professional athlete visas?"