Fine Gael TD, Barry Ward, has posted an update on Facebook re Merrion House IPAS centre in Dublin 4.
No challenge to the decision ❌
Blind acceptance of wreckless Govt policy ✅
But is he conflicted?....🧵
As a sitting TD opining on migration, Ward is also actively acting as barrister for Somali diplomat Mohamed Abdallatif Hussein who was arrested at Dublin Airport on 8 charges of people smuggling.
Everyone deserves a lawyer, and barristers have a duty to represent their clients.....
BUT Ward’s choice to stay on this case is nothing short of jaw-dropping, given that he sits on the Justice Committee & is currently an elected Govt TD. His role in trying to release a charged people smuggler surely undermines any trust?
This case is highly unusual.
Ward is pushing diplomatic immunity for Hussein, on eight counts of people-smuggling. That's someone allegedly exploiting the very IP pathways Ward publicly champions as "safe and vetted" in his Facebook post.
Given that Somalis represent ~11% of asylum applications so far this year (around 900+ out of 8,259 from Jan-Aug), makes this highly relevant.
How can he stay impartial on a system he helps shape while defending its alleged exploiter?