23 people being held as ‘slaves’ in a house in Castletown, Co.Meath

Five people are appearing in Trim District Court on Saturday on suspicion of human trafficking, after 23 people were found in a house in Castletown, Co. Meath.

Three men, two women and a teenage girl were arrested yesterday on suspicion of false imprisonment after the people, believed to be of Romanian origin, were found by Gardaí.

The discovery came after a middle aged man arrived to Cassidy's tyre shop, near Nobber, Co.Meath, visibly distressed.

Speaking to The Irish Times Paul Cassidy recalled, "As far as I could get from him, he’s saying that his family was at ransom.

“He’s saying that there’s guns and everything, that someone’s holding him ransom."

The Times reports that four hours after the Gardaí in Nobber were alerted, they arrived to the house to find 14 people, who they suspect were unwilling migrants working in slave labour.

Eight more people returned to the house in the time the Gardaí were there. The migrants were brought to Dublin yesterday and spent the night in the capital.

Local man Tom Clarke said of the discovery “You don’t really know what’s going on around you, you really don’t, and you don’t like to get involved.”

The Gardaí suspect the imprisonment of these 23 people may have been enforced by the withholding of their money.

There is some question over whether there was also pressure put on their families in their home country.