<p>
	Ireland last year refused entry to 226 individuals from the predominantly Muslim countries that are the subject of President Donald Trump&#39;s executive order banning entry to the US to individuals from those countries.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	That is according to figures provided by T&aacute;naiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald that confirm the largest cohort refused &#39;leave to land&#39; at the country&#39;s ports of entry were from Somalia, currently battling an Islamic militant insurgency and a looming famine.</p>
<p>
	The figures show that last year, 53 Somalians were refused leave to land, while 37 from war-torn Syria were also refused leave to land. An additional 46 Iranians were refused entry by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, while 26 Iraqis and 47 Sudanese were also refused entry.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	The figures provided by the T&aacute;naiste in a written D&aacute;il response to deputies Thomas Pringle and Richard Boyd Barrett show that 10 Libyans were refused &#39;leave to land&#39; along with seven Yemenis in 2016.</p>
<p>
	The T&aacute;naiste said that in respect of those seven nationalities refused leave to land, &quot;a total of 53 sought asylum and were admitted to the State to make a protection application&quot;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&quot;Information on numbers refused permission to enter the State may be subject to revision over time where individual cases are examined further and the status of some cases may change,&quot; she said.</p>
<p>
	CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, Nick Henderson said: &quot;It is a cause for concern to see these numbers. A considerable number of people from refugee producing countries were refused leave to land in Ireland.&quot;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	(Published by the Irish Independent on the 10th February 2017)</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-banned-226-people-from-muslim-nations-35439033.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-banned-226-people-from-muslim-nations-35439033.html</a></p>
