THE CHERNOBYL Children's Project Ireland has thanked Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin for making possible the flight to Shannon airport last night of 100 children from Belarus.
Earlier this year the authorities in Belarus issued a blanket ban on children being issued travel visas to visit countries such as Ireland, Britain and America.
The ban was brought in after the controversy that blew up when a Belarussian girl refused to leave the US.
Tanya Kazyra (16) was on her ninth visit to a family in California when she failed to board the return flight from San Francisco on August 5th.
The Belarussian government imposed similar restrictions in 2004 but they were lifted within weeks after representations were made by governments, including the Government.
One hundred children left Belarus for Shannon airport and were due to arrive at 11.30pm last night. They will stay with host families for the duration of the holiday period.
A spokeswoman for the project workers said they were extremely grateful to Mr Martin and his staff for all their work in recent months.
"We have had calls from other Chernobyl organisations in Canada and Holland and they are asking how the Irish did it," she said. "Adi Roche [founder of Chernobyl Children's Project] worked with people in the Minister's office. It has been very difficult but we are delighted."
Earlier this year Mr Martin reassured Ms Roche that diplomatic efforts were under way to have Ireland exempted from the ban and to put in place an agreed travel framework between the two countries.
He said the authorities in Belarus had always expressed their appreciation for the project's work and that Ms Roche was held in high esteem by Government officials for her humanitarian work.
The Chernobyl Children's Project has brought more than 17,000 children to Ireland for treatment and recuperation since 1991.