the Gards messed with the wrong rich kid

sovtek · 10-07-2009 12:05pm

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Not every passenger from ireland to the USA goes through immigration in Dublin. I flew Continental to Vegas last year going through Newark and didnt go through immigration here.

Fair enough

If these were Brazillian or Chinese backpackers would you be so vociferous with your argument??

I'm actually not that vociferous. I've said that I don't feel sorry for them as they should have had that info...and most people that travel know to do that. These guys were obviously not well traveled and have learned the hard way. At the same time people saying that the immigration official did a "good job" are wrong for the reasons I've stated.
No I would probably have more sympathy for the Brazillians or the Chinese because, experience tells me, she probably would have been worse to them.

seamus · 10-07-2009 12:07pm

sovtek wrote: »

Actually its now typically Irish to expect to be treat differently to everyone else when it comes to immigration going by the position of the Irish government in relation to illegals in America and going by opinion on this board.

You keep banging on and on about this. How is it relevant? How do the actions of a single immigration officer relate in any way whatsoever to Irish Government foreign policy?

Our government did not expressly deny these guys entry and the immigration officer has no input into foreign policy. The two are completely unrelated.

enda1 · 10-07-2009 12:10pm

sovtek wrote: »

Fair enough

I'm actually not that vociferous. I've said that I don't feel sorry for them as they should have had that info...and most people that travel know to do that. These guys were obviously not well traveled and have learned the hard way. At the same time people saying that the immigration official did a "good job" are wrong for the reasons I've stated.
No I would probably have more sympathy for the Brazillians or the Chinese because, experience tells me, she probably would have been worse to them.

What experiance. I thought you were American? Unless you hold both Brazilian and Chinese passports and have come to Ireland on seperate occasions on either passport then you don't have this experiance. And then you would need to have done so many many times for you to build "experiance" and not just small sample size syndrome...

Have the correct paper work or don't come, very simple.
Same was required of me and more when I went ot the states. Plus fingerprints...

Taxipete29 · 10-07-2009 12:15pm

sovtek wrote: »

Fair enough

I'm actually not that vociferous. I've said that I don't feel sorry for them as they should have had that info...and most people that travel know to do that. These guys were obviously not well traveled and have learned the hard way. At the same time people saying that the immigration official did a "good job" are wrong for the reasons I've stated.
No I would probably have more sympathy for the Brazillians or the Chinese because, experience tells me, she probably would have been worse to them.

In your opinion she was wrong. I dont understand why there is even a debate.

Personally I think she could of looked at their account and then let them in as I dont feel we should be creating anymore bad international press than we already have. Thats not the point here. It was her decision and she followed policy set down by the INIS. She did her job correctly, that cannot be disputed.

sovtek · 10-07-2009 12:17pm

seamus wrote: »

Our government did not expressly deny these guys entry and the immigration officer has no input into foreign policy. The two are completely unrelated.

I brought it up in, very relevantly, response to this

"Why do Americans not feel they are subject to the same laws as everyone else.??"

sovtek · 10-07-2009 12:19pm

Dob74 wrote: »

The official should get credit for doing her job correctly.
Anyway they hadnt much money to spend here. They where going to sleep on someone's couch.
Three less bums in this country.

Umm I can tell you they are rich kids plus the one said he had $10,000 in his bank account.
Again...she didn't do her job

Dark Stanley. · 10-07-2009 12:25pm

Three maggots, far better off without them..............To**ers

Jaysoose · 10-07-2009 12:27pm

Taxipete29 wrote: »

In your opinion she was wrong. I dont understand why there is even a debate.

Personally I think she could of looked at their account and then let them in as I dont feel we should be creating anymore bad international press than we already have. Thats not the point here. It was her decision and she followed policy set down by the INIS. She did her job correctly, that cannot be disputed.

The worst thing about this whole clusterfunk is that three ****wits that cant read basic instructions is deemed newsworthy.

inforfun · 10-07-2009 12:31pm

sovtek wrote: »

Umm I can tell you they are rich kids plus the one said he had $10,000 in his bank account.
Again...she didn't do her job

You are not rich if you go on a 1 year trip with $10,000 in your account.....

sovtek · 10-07-2009 12:34pm

inforfun wrote: »

You are not rich if you go on a 1 year trip with $10,000 in your account.....

That's assuming thats all the money you have and no credit cards. I know Colin Zwirko aint poor. His dad is a newscaster in Dallas.

bmaxi · 10-07-2009 12:51pm

sovtek wrote: »

:rolleyes:

No she didn't. She refused three people that were legitimately trying to enter Ireland.

I won't be patronising to your post, I was raised with better manners. Suffice it to say the officer was entitled and empowered to make the decision she did based on the evidence before her. How is that not doing her job?
Now, just because some spoilt brat throws his toys out of the pram, we're supposed change policy. I'd love to have been there at the time, I'm sure these guys had plenty of lip to offer.

is_that_so · 10-07-2009 1:00pm

inforfun wrote: »

You are not rich if you go on a 1 year trip with $10,000 in your account.....

Perhaps not but you should have the cop on to avoid getting deported from the first country on that trip and more importantly to have what they didn't seem to have - a plan.

gazzer · 10-07-2009 1:14pm

sovtek wrote: »

...and then they offered to show them their bank accounts as well they could have contacted the person they gave them the name of. It's usually done.

The guy who the americans were to be staying with got a call from the immigration lady and according to him (he posted on After Hours) she was very rude even after he confirmed that the lads would be staying with him.

lost marbles · 10-07-2009 1:19pm

sovtek wrote: »

Actually she did a crap job because she didn't let in three people that were obviously on holiday and obviously going to spend cash here.
If you are indeed a taxi driver then that was three rich American kids you missed ripping off.

tut tut now

very droll

go get a life

dvpower · 10-07-2009 1:25pm

The lads seem to accept that they arrived in Dublin unprepared

CBS News wrote:

"We learned it the hard way. We recognize now that we were less prepared than we should have been," Zwirko told an Irish radio show. He added that he was "blown away" by Kelly's offer, which includes airfare, a week-long hotel stay, food, and sightseeing.

D4 hotels are just exploiting this for some cheap publicity.

Anthony Kelly of D4 Hotels wrote:

"We have decided to run a cowboy advertisement on radio in Ireland with a good Texan 'Yee Haw!' in honor of the Plano 3," Kelly said. "It is what we hope is a good Texan cowboy accent in honor of the Plano 3."

Mena · 10-07-2009 1:30pm

dvpower wrote: »

D4 hotels are just exploiting this for some cheap publicity.

And what's wrong with that? I'm sure most other hotel groups are kicking themselves for not having thought of it first.

10-07-2009 1:32pm

How is this getting so much coverage? It sounds like a Joe Duffy anecdote.

inforfun · 10-07-2009 1:33pm

sovtek wrote: »

That's assuming thats all the money you have and no credit cards. I know Colin Zwirko aint poor. His dad is a newscaster in Dallas.

Ok, so you know him. But cant really blame the officer of immigration not knowing who Colin Zwirko is.
It is simple, they didnt bother to prepare themselves and learned the hard way. That they now are more or less rewarded for their stupidity by getting a free trip to Ireland is really a shame.

is_that_so wrote: »

Perhaps not but you should have the cop on to avoid getting deported from the first country on that trip and more importantly to have what they didn't seem to have - a plan.

You dont have to convince me that they are muppets

is_that_so · 10-07-2009 1:35pm

It's the silly season and real news is hard to find.

Raskolnikov · 10-07-2009 1:38pm

sovtek wrote: »

I think that more than likely at US immigration they would have taken you aside and probably gave you a chance to prove your story.

Are you joking me?

I was prevented from boarding a flight by US immigration because the address I put down at where I was staying at only contained a zip code. If it wasn't for the sheer chance that I had another print-out, that happened to have the full address, I wouldn't have been allowed board the flight.

US Immigration could easily have checked that the hotel I was staying at existed and that I was booked to stay there that night. Obviously, they see that the onus is on the individual to come fully prepared. If not, tough sh!t.

dvpower · 10-07-2009 1:45pm

Mena wrote: »

And what's wrong with that? I'm sure most other hotel groups are kicking themselves for not having thought of it first.

Nothing at all. A business exploiting a business opportunity is a good thing:).

spank_inferno · 10-07-2009 1:54pm

It is strange that if a group are traveling through numerous countries as part of a "round the world" trip they didnt have any 'onward flight' information.

If they had a print out showing an onward flight to say london or paris I doubt the immigration official would have had any problem.

I know I wouldnt leave such a trip to be booked as I go.
I'd have every leg booked and documented before I went.

SeaFields · 10-07-2009 2:00pm

As a matter of interest does anyone know if there are any figure available regarding the amount of people refused entry in to Ireland in any given year?

As far as I am concerned this whole thing is a storm in a tea cup and doesn't warrant the air time the media are giving it - either side of the Atlantic. We have more pressing things to be worrying about with more far reaching implications than this story.

Dublin_Gunner · 10-07-2009 2:06pm

Hold on, 3 kids, fly into Ireland from the States.

They have US passports. Thats about it.

They don't have supporting docs i.e bank statements, address of where they are staying (how did they plan on getting there???), no onward flight information.

So, they broke at least 3 of the rules they needed to follow - and some people on this board think there's nothing wrong with that??

Seriously, its not Ireland / the immigration official / or anyone else's problem that the 3 twats didn't do their homework.

Did they decide to come over that morning or something?

If anyone, from any other country (outside EU obviously), came over with the same lack of documentation, I would expect them to be treated exactly the same, and get on the next flight back home.

Sorry, but ignorance is no defence.

T runner · 10-07-2009 3:17pm

sovtek wrote: »

That's assuming thats all the money you have and no credit cards. I know Colin Zwirko aint poor. His dad is a newscaster in Dallas.

Was the immigration official supposed to investigate all this? Why didnt his Dad advise him on the documentation necessary for entering foreign countries?

No I would probably have more sympathy for the Brazillians or the Chinese because, experience tells me, she probably would have been worse to them.

Why the personalised attack on this immigration officer?

A lot of the tightening of security etc around immigration has happenned as a direct result of American pressure. Its not a situation I agree with but blaming an individual worker who is clearly doing her job is hardly right.

asdasd · 10-07-2009 6:49pm

The difference is that the US doesn't need Irish tourists as much as Ireland needs American tourists.

Thats an argument from power. Basically our laws are to be ignored as we are powerless, and you are powerful.

Actually its now typically Irish to expect to be treat differently to everyone else when it comes to immigration going by the position of the Irish government in relation to illegals in America and going by opinion on this board.

Opinion on these boards tends to be that the illegals should be sent home.

I hear Irish people bitching all the time about immigrants and then turning around and talking about emigrating themselves...as if no one should be allowed to come here but you should be allowed to go to Australia, Canada or whever the hell you want to in the EU...but hey its ok if WE treat everyone like ****.

Except for the EU all of those countries have barriers to entry for Irish immigrants, in particular the US does. You need a work VISA. Within the EU, Ireland was amongst the first to open it's borders to the accession States when others didnt, and Germany and France have still not. Arguing against that decision is not the same as arguing that "no one should be allowed to come here" - and Ireland in fact legally allows multiples of it's population to come to live here. Far more than the US, Canada, or Australia - none of which are in international bodies equivalent to the EU. It is harder for a canadian to enter the US than it is for anybody from the EU to enter Ireland.

Ireland, which is not a nation of immigrants, has far easier access relative to it's population size than most of the Immigrant nations.

...and then they offered to show them their bank accounts as well they could have contacted the person they gave them the name of. It's usually done.

She did contact the guy, who didnt know them and was going to meet them somewhere else ( he posts here by the way). CouchSurfers do that in case the guys who turn up end up being psychos.

The bank account argument is nonsense.

Is the immigration officer supposed to leave her booth, walk a few minutes to an ATM, wait for the print out, go back to the booth and stamp the passport.

They shoulda brought money.

asdasd · 10-07-2009 6:54pm

His dad is a newscaster in Dallas.

Which explains why a perfectly normal situation where a few muppets who could not be bothered to read the entry requirements for a sovereign nation and were turned away, became an international issue - while the hundreds, if not thousands , of people who failed to enter the US, or some entry port in the EU on the same day failed to make the news.

McGrath5 · 10-07-2009 6:54pm

Storm in a tea cup anyone?

delta_bravo · 10-07-2009 8:13pm

sovtek wrote: »

The difference is that the US doesn't need Irish tourists as much as Ireland needs American tourists.

The last thing we need is a bunch of tourists with no finances to get back home though. The immigration officer did her job

Dark Stanley. · 10-07-2009 8:39pm

asdasd wrote: »

Thats an argument from power. Basically our laws are to be ignored as we are powerless, and you are powerful.

Opinion on these boards tends to be that the illegals should be sent home.

Except for the EU all of those countries have barriers to entry for Irish immigrants, in particular the US does. You need a work VISA. Within the EU, Ireland was amongst the first to open it's borders to the accession States when others didnt, and Germany and France have still not. Arguing against that decision is not the same as arguing that "no one should be allowed to come here" - and Ireland in fact legally allows multiples of it's population to come to live here. Far more than the US, Canada, or Australia - none of which are in international bodies equivalent to the EU. It is harder for a canadian to enter the US than it is for anybody from the EU to enter Ireland.

Ireland, which is not a nation of immigrants, has far easier access relative to it's population size than most of the Immigrant nations.

She did contact the guy, who didnt know them and was going to meet them somewhere else ( he posts here by the way). CouchSurfers do that in case the guys who turn up end up being psychos.

The bank account argument is nonsense.

Is the immigration officer supposed to leave her booth, walk a few minutes to an ATM, wait for the print out, go back to the booth and stamp the passport.

They shoulda brought money.

Excellent post Sir, Plus I'm not being patronising, I just make you right.

the Gards messed with the wrong rich kid

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