Afghan minors went to cathedral because of 'huge difficulties'

A guardian's report on the nine Afghan minors who have been made wards of court has stated they went to St Patrick's Cathedral to show they were having "huge difficulties" and that they faced "grave risk" if returned to Afghanistan.

The report, prepared by a guardian and childcare expert appointed by the High Court last Friday after the minors were made wards of court, also stated the nine had said they never intended to dishonour a place of worship but saw the cathedral as a place of sanctuary and safety and regarded their cause as just.

The nine are now taking food and drink and have returned to their studies and will pursue their asylum applications through the prescribed channels, the report disclosed.

It also stated that, without the tireless commitment of the Health Service Executive (HSE) staff, cathedral staff and Garda, who attended at the cathedral, there was "a real chance" the Afghan protest could have ended in tragedy.

The minors were made wards of court last Friday on the application of the HSE.

When the cases of the minors were mentioned yesterday before the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan continued the wardship of the minors for a further four weeks and also recommended publication of part of the report. The judge remarked that the report presented "a different picture from media reports".

Unfortunately, there was a great deal of publicity in the matter which was unhelpful, the judge said.

In those circumstances, he said it might be appropriate to make some part of the guardian's report available to "redress the balance" with the names, schools and places of residence of the minors deleted.

The judge was dealing with the cases of nine minors. When the matter was called, counsel for the HSE, Felix McEnroy SC, asked the court to appoint a third guardian for the minors. Two of the minors will be 18 years of age in June while three more will reach 18 in August, he said.

Mr Justice Finnegan ruled the proceedings could be heard in public, stating it was important these matters are available to the public.

Mr McEnroy said a number of the minors are due to sit exams and they were high achieving in relation to their studies.

At the end of the hearing, Mr Justice Finnegan pointed out that persons who are wards of court cannot be taken out of the jurisdiction. Counsel for the HSE said no step could be taken to take the minors beyond the jurisdiction unless orders were varied by the court.

Counsel for the guardian told the court that the matters had stemmed from an uncertainty about asylum files and where they were in the justice system.

Adjourning the case to June 14th, Mr Justice Finnegan said the HSE officials had acted with commendable speed and in a most appropriate way.