Three Irish citizens successfully leave Afghanistan as 36 remain

One of the three Irish citizens to leave Afghanistan was Aoife MacManus.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has revealed that three Irish citizens have been successfully evacuated from Afghanistan but that 36 remain. The Minister confirmed that one of the three Irish citizens to leave Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control was Aoife MacManus, who is from Meath and had been in Kabul for the past two years working with marginalised children in the primary education sector. Coveney told Today with Claire Byrne: "With each day that passes, we get a slight change in numbers but the good news is that three citizens have actually been successfully evacuated." Earlier in the week, MacManus had described from Kabul the "rapidly" deteriorating situation in the country. "I don't think it's helpful for me to reveal how she got out or where she is, because we are trying to get as many other people out," the Minister said. As for the 36 Irish people still in Afghanistan, Coveney stated that the majority work for international or non-governmental organisations and that some of them are dual citizens. The Minister also said that the Government is working with the European Union, the UK, as well as the US, to try to make sure that there are places on flights that are leaving Kabul airport for the Irish people remaining in the country. However, he stated that getting access to the airport complex continues to be the "biggest obstacle" for these Irish citizens. “A number of people have been killed around the airport in the last number of days, some of them crushed in the chaotic scenes of people trying to push their way into the airport,” he told the programme. “It’s actually very difficult to get people into the airport. It’s also difficult for some people to get to Kabul from where they are, and then from parts of Kabul to the airport. “There are checks, run by the Taliban, and then there are large crowds still that you have to find your way through to get into the airport, which is predominantly being managed by US soldiers." Main image via Julien Behal Photography /© RollingNews.ie