O’Hallorans insist it was wrong of Coveney to say thanks to China
Family found comments ‘in poor taste... unnecessary... and upsetting’
THE wife of the Irish businessman detained against his will in China for three years said Foreign Minister Simon Coveney should not have officially thanked the Chinese government for helping to secure his release.
Mother-of-four Tara O’Halloran, whose husband Richard was eventually allowed to return home two weeks ago, said: ‘I definitely wouldn’t [have thanked the Chinese] and I think it was kind of in poor taste given what Richard had to go through and the ordeal we all had to face for three years.
‘I just certainly didn’t think it was necessary and I think it was quite upsetting for our family to read that.
‘He had the most horrific ordeal to get home. I don’t think it was down to the Chinese authorities in any way. We shouldn’t certainly have been thanking them. I’m afraid that’s my personal opinion.’
Mr O’Halloran works with an Irish subsidiary of a Chinese firm and he was detained in Shanghai after travelling over there in 2019 to help resolve a business problem involving the parent company of the Chinese firm where he works.
During an emotional interview on RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor Show yesterday, Mr O’Halloran said he is keen to ensure no other Irish citizen will be subjected to the same ordeal he and his family endured.
The Dublin businessman said he wants to meet with Foreign Afffairs Minister Simon Coveney to discuss how this can be done.
Mr O’Halloran said: ‘I have said to Simon Coveney that I would like to meet him to debrief the good, the bad, the ugly, that happened in this situation.
‘If it happens to another Irish citizen or another European person that there is a playbook that other nations can come to our DFA and say “how did you guys do this? what can we do?” I just think this is important. I have spoken to him about it and it is something that is going to be done.
‘I owe it to the Irish people that if someone gets into this situation or European person there is a better way. I don’t want anyone going through what I went through.’ Ms O’Halloran recalled the emotional moment when she knew she only had half an hour to race from the couple’s home in Foxrock to her daughters’ schools before news broke about their father’s release.
The couples’ four children Scarlett, Isabella, Amber and Ben range in age from eight to 15.
Ms O’Halloran said: ‘I told Ben my son the night before there was a very good chance. We knew that until he got on the plane he may not get back.
‘The younger ones, I hadn’t actually told them and I thought I’d have plenty of time to tell them because he will be back the following day.
‘But I got a call to say there was going to be a press release at one o’clock. That was at 12.30 and my kids were all at school so I had to rush to the schools to collect the girls and tell them that Dad was coming home which was very emotional actually.
‘The schools were fantastic. They organised a little room for us and there
‘ He had the most horrific ordeal to get home’
‘I don’t want anyone to go through what I did’
was tears and disbelief and screeching and you know it was just amazing.
‘But I had to tell them very quickly because I didn’t want someone telling them in school. Someone turning on the news or one of the parents coming into the yard or whatever.
‘So they were so happy obviously. It was just a great moment.’
The O’Halloran’s interview heaped further pressure on Minister Coveney this weekend.
Senator Gerard Craughwell, a Foreign Affairs Committee member, said Mr Coveney ‘has questions to answer on his handling yet another issue’.
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘The serious issues raised by Mr O’Halloran merit closer examination.’
Minister Coveney did not respond to request for comment when contacted by the MoS yesterday.