asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the consultations, if any, which took place between the Belgian and Irish authorities on the recent deportation of Fr. Patrick Ryan; and if the Belgian Government notified the Irish authorities of their reasons for the deportation.

21.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will use the procedures of the Anglo-Irish Conference under Article 2 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement to raise with the British authorities the generally offensive and almost racist nature of some British coverage of Irish affairs, especially arising from the recent extradition controversy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

22.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether he explained the Government's position in regard to the Fr. Patrick Ryan affair and extradition in general to his European colleagues; and whether he received any support and encouragement from his colleagues at the European Council meeting in Rhodes.

28.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the Irish Government participated in any arrangements for the deportation of Fr. Patrick Ryan.

I propose to take Priority Question No. 50 and Questions Nos. 21, 22 and 28 together.

The Foreign Minister of Belgium informed the Chargé D'Affaires at the Irish Embassy in Brussels on Friday 25 November 1988 that the Belgian Authorities had decided not to grant the extradition request of the British authorities in respect of Patrick Ryan and that they had decided to repatriate Patrick Ryan to Ireland. The Irish Government were not consulted by the Belgian Government before this decision was taken. The Government, through the Embassy, confirmed to the Belgian Government the right of Patrick Ryan to enter Ireland at any time.

With regard to the question of comments in the British press, I recall that all sides of the House expressed concern, in the debate on the continuance of the Extradition (Amendment) Act 1987 last week, about the media coverage of the Patrick Ryan case in Britain. This case did not arise in the European Council at Rhodes.

Does the Minister intend to ask the British to take any particular steps at tomorrow's Anglo-Irish Conference meeting to control or measure the British media coverage of such cases?

That, and a number of other pertinent matters, will be raised at the Anglo-Irish Conference tomorrow.

Has the Minister any specific proposals to put to the British authorities on this aspect of the affair which figured so prominently in the Attorney General's decision today?

The most important aspect referred to by the Attorney General was in regard to the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act.

We are anticipating questions on that matter now, we will come to them. We now come to the Private Notice Questions concerning the extradition to Britain of Fr. Patrick Ryan and the Attorney General's statement in the matter. I have two questions, one from Deputy Dukes and the other from Deputy De Rossa.