Labour Party MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has issued an apology to immigration officers at Dublin Airport after posting a video on social media in which he described their presence on the runway after his flight as “Trumpian”.
In the now-deleted video, Ó Ríordáin recorded himself as he walked through the airport, and said that immigration officials were present as passengers exited the plane – a phenomenon he hadn’t seen before.
“Immigration officials just met us off the flight from Brussels, just as we were stepping off the plane,” he said.
“I’ve been doing this over and back [between Dublin and Brussels] since June [and] never met an immigration official as I left the flight before.”
He added: “What’s that about? Government trying to pretend they’re doing something? Feels a bit Trumpian.”
Within a few days the video was deleted and Ó Ríordáin posted a follow-up clip to his social media channels apologising to immigration officers.
“I just want to apologise about a video that I put up last Wednesday,” he said.
“I just got off a flight from Brussels, and I reacted poorly to being met by some immigration officials as we got off the plane. I’ve been dealing with a lot of issues during the day in Brussels about the rise of the far-right; however, when we met those immigration officials, I put up a video criticising it.”
He added that this “wasn’t fair”, and said that immigration officials “know an awful lot more” about immigration enforcement than him.
“Immigration officials are doing their job, they know an awful lot more about what they’re doing than I do, and they deserve better from their public representatives,” he said.
“So, I just wanted to apologise for that.”
In February 2023, the Irish government authorised Gardaí to resume conducting passport checks at the steps of aircraft arriving at Dublin Airport. This measure aims to address the issue of passengers arriving without valid travel documents, particularly among asylum seekers.
The practice, initially introduced by former Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan, had been discontinued after the change of government in 2020, but was reactivated to tackle the significant number of individuals arriving without proper documentation.
In 2023, approximately 3,285 individuals arrived at Dublin Airport without valid identity documents, accounting for nearly 70% of all asylum applications made at the airport that year. This represents a decrease from 2022, when 4,968 individuals arrived without documentation.
Additionally, in the first five months of 2024, 113 people were charged with failing to present valid passports or IDs upon entering the State, indicating ongoing challenges in addressing the issue of undocumented arrivals.