THREE TEXAN backpackers who were refused entry to Ireland last week by immigration officials have been offered an all-expenses-paid trip from the D4hotels group.
Colin Zwirko (21), Gavin Sides (19) and Ben Whitehurst (21) arrived at Dublin airport last Friday, at the start of a year-long backpacking trip around Europe.
The men said they were told by immigration officials that they could not enter Ireland because they did not have an address for their accommodation and they did not bring bank statements to prove they could afford to travel.
The trio were planning to stay with people contacted through the website www.couchsurfing.com
Since the case was highlighted in the Dallas Morning News and The Irish Times, the three have been inundated with offers from hotels and businesses to encourage them to return.
Yesterday, the D4hotels group said they would pay for three airline tickets, a week of free hotel rooms, food and drinks and $1,000 spending money.
Mr Zwirko said he and his friends were bowled over by the offers from Irish businesses.
Asked if the earlier incident had dissuaded them from returning, he said: “No, absolutely not, if anything it’s just proved the hospitable nature of the country and disproved the immigration officers’ impression of us entirely.”
The incident has received widespread coverage on the internet and was raised in the Seanad by Labour’s Dominic Hannigan on Wednesday.
This newspaper also had been contacted by visitors with similar experiences, including one US citizen who said he spent a night in a cell because no flight was available, before being sent back to Germany the following morning.
Tourism Ireland has written to the Garda National Immigration Bureau and to the Department of Justice, expressing its concern at such incidents.
