Family Heartbreak After Deportation

Irish Voice News

Family Heartbreak After Deportation

February 28, 2008

By April Drew

IT was a sad morning for the Byrne family of Pearl River, New York when Eileen Grady Byrne and her five-year-old daughter Mairead had to say an emotional farewell to husband and father Joe Byrne after he was ordered to surrender himself to federal marshals in a White Plains courthouse on Tuesday morning, February 26.

Byrne, who is being extradited back to Ireland to face charges of robbery and burglary, a crime that was committed in Co. Louth in 1997, will be remanded in custody here until the Irish government sends officials to escort him back to Ireland. It is expected that Byrne will be back in Ireland by the end of the week.

Speaking to the Irish Voice on Tuesday after an emotional morning, Eileen said, “It was a very upsetting morning having him leave. He got up early and went to town to have an Irish breakfast.

Eileen added that her husband was not allowed to bring any possessions with him. “He wasn’t even allowed to wear a jacket or bring his wallet,” she said.

Before coming to the U.S. in 1998, Byrne, whose father is a retired police sergeant in Dundalk, Co. Louth, was questioned by Louth Gardai (police) in connection to a robbery and burglary that took place in March 1997 at the Ready Penny Inn on the Ardee Road in Dundalk.

The 18-year-old daughter of the proprietor was tied up, and £8,200 Irish punts were stolen. Byrne, a suspect, was held for 48 hours in which time he was questioned and subsequently released without being charged.

He shortly after came to the U.S. where he set up a home in Queens, started his own construction business, met Eileen, had a daughter and moved to Ridge Street in Pearl River, a predominately Irish American neighborhood in Rockland County, New York.

Life was normal for the Byrne family. That was, until things took an unexpected turn for the worst when at 5 a.m. on July 28, 2006, 20 U.S. federal marshals surrounded their home and arrested Byrne.

“I was upstairs and I hear this knocking and banging. I didn’t know what was going on so I came downstairs in my boxer shorts, and then I see all these lights shining through the glass door and these guys saying, what’s your name, what’s your name?” Byrne told the Irish Voice last year.

Officers asked Byrne if was he aware why he was being arrested and he said no. “They explained that the Irish government have a warrant out for my arrest,” said Byrne.

Byrne, who has a green card, was taken away by the officers and held in Valhalla Federal Prison in Westchester County for six weeks before being released on $350,000 bail.

Since then, Byrne and his family and supporters have done everything in their power to prevent him from being extradited. They went to court to fight his extradition but in November a judge ruled in favor of the Irish government’s request.

Enlisting the help of AOH friends in Pearl River, family and even politicians, the Byrne family never gave up.

“We are still going to do everything in our power to get Joe back to us as soon as possible,” said Eileen, praising the good work of the AOH’s Division 3 in Pearl River and the constant effort of Congressman Eliot Engel, who promised the Byrne family he would keep pressure on the issue from this side of the water. “Congress-man Eliot Engel has notified the U.S. Embassy in Dublin about Joe’s case,” said Eileen gratefully.

Byrne, who has no idea what the next step will be in Ireland, has an attorney waiting for him when he gets to Ireland. Although Eileen said they are none the wiser on what will actually happen when her husband goes back, she added that it is expected he will be given a court date, at which point his lawyer will fight for bail.

“We are so clueless and have been all the time. No one in the Irish government will tell us anything. I guess I will just have to wait and hear from Ireland what will happen when my husband gets back there,” she said.

Eileen, admitting she has no idea when she will see her husband again, added, “It’s hard for me but it’s so much harder on our daughter. She is used to having her daddy with her in the evenings at home. She will be devastated when she realizes that he won’t be coming home every night for a while.”

Eileen, who hasn’t worked since an accident some years ago, said it will be financially very hard on the family now that the breadwinner is gone for the time being.

In the meantime, while her husband prepares himself for what lies ahead in Ireland, Eileen says she will remain strong and continue to look after her ailing father and her young daughter.

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