Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin is to seek a formal agreement with the government in Belarus to allow children from the Chernobyl region to travel to Ireland at various intervals throughout the year for holiday's and medical attention.
Mr Martin met the director of Chernobyl Children's Project International (CCPI) Adi Roche this morning in Cork to discuss the travel ban on children which was recently imposed by the Belarussian authorities.
He reassured Ms Roche that a full scale diplomatic effort was under way to have Ireland exempt from the ban and to put in place an agreed travel framework between the two countries.
"Our ambassador in Moscow is travelling tomorrow to meet with the Belarus authorities, the humanitarian ministry and the foreign affairs ministry,” he said.
“We invited the charge d'affaires from London to come to Ireland this week with the view to discussing the issue with him and I think it is fair to say they are anxious to work with us to resolve it. That is the indication we have received. "
Mr Martin expressed his confidence that the situation would be resolved speedily and satisfactorily.
Ms Roche broadly welcomed the intervention of the Government and said she was encouraged by the fact that Minister Martin aims to set up a formal arrangement for the children.
"The only way to do it was actually through the political domain and thanks be to God Minister Micheál Martin has really risen to the challenge. So have the entire Government actually because I think the nation have spoken on this issue,” she said.
“Thousands and thousands of people are contacting us every day heartbroken about the future and rights of the children. And now I think by the end of the week there will be extraordinary good news."
Ms Roche said the visits to Ireland were "medically and scientifically proven to be of great benefit for high-risk children. There are currently 500,000 children categorised as high risk in Belarus alone."
CCPI has brought more than 17,000 children to Ireland for treatment and recuperation since 1991.
The travel ban was brought in after the controversy that blew up when a Belarussian girl refused to leave the US. Tanya Kazyra (16) was on her ninth, and last, visit to a family in California when she failed to board the return flight from San Francisco on August 5th.
The Belarussian government imposed similar restrictions in 2004 but they were lifted within weeks after representations were made by governments, including the Irish Government.