The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said farewell to 120 Kosovar refugees at Shannon airport yesterday morning.
"We look forward to seeing you back here some day in different circumstances, for we enjoyed having you in your hour of need," she said. A total of 75 people, including 36 children, were returning under the Programme of Voluntary Repatriation. Another 45 were availing of the Look and See provision for the heads of families to visit Kosovo and decide within two months if they wish to have the family repatriated.
Ms O'Donnell said: "It was a very good example of State agencies co-operating and working together to provide for so many people in need."
She said these included the health boards, refugee agencies and the Department of Education in providing language training. She added: "It was a very good model for providing an integrated agency for refugees generally. Everybody who touched the project enjoyed it because they were a great bunch of people."
Mr Nexhmedin Bala (35), an electrical engineer, who spent three months in Tralee, said: "We will never forget the very great hospitality we received in Ireland". He was travelling home to Pristina with his wife, three children, and his elderly parents. He said his sister had telephoned him to say the shell of their home was intact but the contents had been looted by Serbs.