One of the two asylum-seekers arrested at Limerick Register Office at the weekend was about to be married to a Garda sergeant. The bride to be was Sgt Helen Holden, from Tipperary, who is stationed at Cappamore. She graduated from Templemore in 1987.
According to the Limerick Leader, a friend of Sgt Holden said: "She is an absolutely lovely person and some members of her family, who were there, said this was a terrible thing to happen to her." The arrests were made by Garda Kieran Glynn, head of the Immigrations Office.
Gardaí at Limerick headquarters in Henry Street, Immigrations Department, were unwilling to comment on the matter but stressed that Sgt Holden had done nothing wrong. All she did was fall in love with a man who is about to be deported.
The Algerian, who had been in Limerick for about three years, was said to have been friendly with Sgt Holden for some time. Altogether four persons were due to pick up their deportation papers on Friday last, but failed to do so. The other unsucessful asylum-seeker was a Nigerian who was awaiting his bride at the Register Office when he was arrested.
Ms Anne Scully, chairperson of Doras Luiminí, said "the refugee legal service are doing everything possible to stop the deportation". Both men are currently in Limerick Prison where they can be detained for up to eight weeks. They could be deported at any time.