Women’s detention after UAE trip is test of Ireland’s constitution

The women, from Dublin, flew to Dubai for cosmetic surgery and said they couldn’t afford mandatory quarantine

A view of a military presence at Dublin airport in March to ensure hotel quarantine is enforced. Getty Images

Ireland requires travellers from high-risk countries stay in mandatory 12-day hotel quarantine at their own cost. Getty Images.

A passenger is escorted to a bus to be taken from the airport in Dublin to the Crowne Plaza hotel for quarantine. Getty Images

Airline passengers in Dublin leave the bus to enter the Crowne Plaza hotel to begin their period of quarantine. Image: Getty Images

The Crowne Plaza hotel near Dublin airport, which is being used for 12-day quarantine. Getty Images

Irish Army personnel leave the Crowne Plaza hotel after assisting in the transfer of airline passengers. Getty Images

A bus leaves the Crowne Plaza hotel after dropping off airline passengers. Getty Images

Ireland's High Court ordered an inquiry into the detention of two women who were arrested after refusing to enter hotel quarantine on their return from the UAE.

Mr Justice Paul Burns called for the role of the country’s constitution in their detention at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin to be examined.

Niamh Mulreany, 25, and Kirstie McGrath, 30, flew to the UAE for cosmetic surgery, despite rules in Ireland that allow only essential travel.

They were arrested at Dublin Airport on Friday after saying they had run out of money and could not pay for mandatory hotel quarantine.

In Sunday’s high court hearing, Counsel John Fitzgerald, acting for the women, said their detention was unlawful. He is seeking an inquiry to obtain their release.

He said a bail hearing in the district court imposed “draconian and disproportionate” conditions on the women.

Bail was imposed on two people with no previous convictions, Mr Fitzgerald said, and no inquiry into their means was made, or their negative Covid-19 tests considered.

The state’s objection to bail was grounded in coronavirus concerns, he said.

Under Ireland’s Covid-19 rules, arrivals are required to stay in hotel quarantine for 12 days if they have travelled from certain countries.

Anyone caught breaking these regulations can be fined €2,000 ($2,350), with a maximum sentence of one month in jail.

The women were initially denied boarding at Dubai International Airport after revealing they did not have the €1,875 each needed to pay for quarantine in Dublin.

They spent two days in Dubai airport and the nearby area, before Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs granted their request to return.

In court, it was heard the women were in the UAE to undergo breast enlargement, although they said they had not gone ahead with the procedures.

It was their second visit to the Middle East in only a few weeks.

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