Woman who worked for Irish military before joining IS held on return
A former member of the Irish military who became a socalled Islamic State bride in Syria has been arrested on suspicion of terror offences as she arrived back in Ireland.
Lisa Smith, 38, once accompanied an ex-president and leader of Ireland on foreign trips as a member of the Defence Forces but went to the war-torn Middle Eastern country in 2015 after converting to Islam and becoming radicalised.
Ms Smith had been living with her two-year-old daughter in a Syrian refugee camp; she is being cared for by her family in Ireland while her mother is questioned at a Dublin police station.
Irish police said: “She is currently being detained at a South Dublin Garda station under the provisions of Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act, 1939 as amended. A child, also an Irish citizen, was in the company of the female and is now being cared for by relatives.”
Ms Smith has denied being involved in violence.
She was accompanied by three consular officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, members of the Army Ranger Wing, and a Turkish security officer on the flight.
She was not in custody for the four-and-a-half-hour journey but Irish police were waiting at Dublin airport for the plane’s arrival.
Images of her arrival showed her covered in a pink blanket as she was taken from the aircraft.
Her daughter was born in Syria but is an Irish citizen. Ms Smith is originally from Dundalk in Co Louth, near the Irish border with Northern Ireland. She has said the father of her child was a suspected member of IS who died last year.
Ms Smith held a relatively lowly role in the Defence Forces but worked on the official Irish government jet.
She accompanied former president Mary Robinson and then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on journeys.
The Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said that Ms Smith should have the right of return to Ireland and that removing her citizenship would not be right or compassionate.