‘us to lift irish travel ban next month’
THE ban on Irish visitors to the US could be lifted within a fortnight, according to a travel expert.
The exclusion has been in place since the start of the pandemic but Eoghan Corry said a timeline for the reopening is being worked out.
He added we are seeing “very strong” indications the ban will be lifted on Labor Day [September 6].
Mr Corry told the Irish Mirror: “We need a few things to go right for that to happen because it did look as if it was going to be lifted in July and it did get put back.
“But the latest date, the important date, is September 6.
Another important date is October 11 when Aer Lingus’ San Francisco service is due to resume.
“Aer Lingus cut back to Chicago, Boston and New York through the crisis and then they resumed Washington on August 13, so the next one to resume is San Francisco.”
their citizens out. We are working with many of them to try to get Irish citizens on planes that are leaving.
“Some of the Irish people that have got out in the last 48 hours were on a plane organised by Germany, and we are very grateful to them.
“But they have their own decisions to make, and they have many, many more citizens than we have across Afghanistan that they are trying to evacuate.”
Reports from Britain have suggested that UK military flights may end as early as Tuesday. US troops are due to leave Afghanistan by August 31.
Mr Coveney said: “So yes, of course, this is a window that is closing. We want to be sure we can take advantage of any opportunity over the coming days to get people and their dependants out.
“No one really knows what’s going to happen in Afghanistan. We’ve seen some propaganda from them in the last few days saying there is nothing to fear.
“We’ve also heard lots of examples of Taliban inspections in people’s homes, burning of passports and intimidation.
“This is a very volatile and concerning situation.”
Meanwhile, the US will use 18 commercial aircraft to help transport people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan, moving them from temporary locations after they have landed from Kabul, the Pentagon said yesterday.
The move highlights the difficulty Washington is having in carrying out the evacuation of US citizens and at-risk Afghans.
The aircraft would not fly into Kabul but would be used to carry people who have already been flown out of the country, spokesman John Kirby said.