An Ennis family were yesterday celebrating a U-turn that allows their Cuban grandmother visit Ireland to see her daughter and her three Irish-born grandchildren.
Last month the Department of Justice refused a visitor's visa for Ms Tirsa Martinez (60), a Cuban national, to come to Ireland to see her Cuba-born daughter and her three grandchildren.
The decision shocked the Conway family as Ms Martinez had been allowed entry into Ireland twice before and obeyed all the conditions of the visa each time, including the requirement to return home on the expiry of the three-month visa.
However, Mrs Martinez's application on this occasion was refused on three separate grounds.
One was that she had no obligation to return home due to having no social, economic or professional ties in her country.
Another was that she might overstay her visit or work illegally, and the Department also said insufficient documentation was submitted with the application.
Ms Martinez was intending to see her daughter, Cecilia, who sought asylum in Ireland in 1994 after arriving from Cuba and secured citizenship in 1997.
In 1996, she married an Ennis man, Mr Paul Conway, and they have three children, Caimen (6), Alma (4) and Sinead (2).
Lodging the appeal against the decision, Mr Conway described the situation as "a complete embarrassment, and it saddens me even to have to deal with it".
However, after their plight was given national press exposure, Ms Conway received a phone call from the Department of Foreign Affairs to say their appeal had been successful.
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