Three women return to quarantine hotel after absconding

Three more people who absconded from hotel quarantine in Dublin were persuaded to turn their car around and return to their rooms after being intercepted by gardaí more than 150km away.

The three women are believed to be Brazilian nationals who attempted to make their way home to Loughrea, Co Galway.

They had recently arrived in Ireland and were staying in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry, north Dublin for the last number of days before deciding to leave on Tuesday.

They drove out of the county in their own car before being spotted by gardai on motorway patrol and pulled over near Loughrea.

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Following a conversation with the officers, the women were persuaded to return to quarantine.

On Tuesday evening gardai confirmed they were in contact with the State Liaison Officer at a designated quarantine facility in accordance with protocols.

A spokesman said it followed “a report of three people leaving a facility in the Dublin area earlier on Tuesday. A graduated policing response was adopted by gardaí and all three have since been returned to the facility.

"As the Department of Health are the lead agency in relation to the management of mandatory quarantining, An Garda Síochána will not be commenting further at this time."

Last Friday, two women in their 30s were arrested and charged after refusing to enter mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival in Dublin Airport.

The two women, who arrived from the United Arab Emirates, have since appeared in court.

In their case a High Court judge declined an application for them to be allowed to quarantine at their respective homes so they could be re-united with their children.

The judge said that in light of the public health situation and measures put in place to reduce new variations of the virus, they must quarantine at the hotel.

Private security manage security at the Crowne Plaza, the hotel being used for quarantine near Dublin Airport.

Although Defence Forces personnel are stationed there, they do not have legal powers to stop people leaving.