Chinese couple to celebrate return of Irish-born daughter

A Chinese couple are planning a celebration to mark the return of their young Irish-born daughter to them after the Minister for Justice overturned a decision refusing her re-entry here from China.

An overjoyed Meijiao Yu said yesterday she is "so happy" the Minister, Alan Shatter, has approved a visa for entry to Ireland of her daughter Jiayi Shao, who will mark her fourth birthday next Wednesday.  The child has lived with her grandparents in China since she was four months old.

“I am very delighted, I still don’t believe it, my daughter needs me and I have missed her so much. She is always asking ‘when are you coming here?’”

Ms Yu said she will travel to China later this month to collect the child and she and her husband Xia Shao are planning a belated birthday celebration for their daughter here on her return.

A Department of Justice spokeswoman confirmed yesterday the Minister had issued a visa for Jiayi Shao and added the Minister was unaware of the child’s plight until last Friday, when it was reported in the media that court proceedings, supported by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, had been initiated aimed at securing the child’s return.

The child’s parents, who are living and working here, had challenged the refusal of permission for her to re-enter the country after being sent to stay temporarily with her grandparents in 2009 when both her parents were working and studying.

The couple, legally resident in Ireland and living in Clondalkin, Dublin, claimed the family has been torn apart as a result of the decision.  They had sought her re-entry from November 2012 after both were permitted to work full-time here and had secured employment.

Ms Yu said she was 25, “young and inexperienced”, and the couple were under significant stress when Jiayi Shao was born in May 2009.  They had not planned to have a child until their circumstances were more secure and found it very difficult to cope.

They decided to send their daughter, when aged four months, to China to live with her grandparents for a short time. That decision was “very difficult” but  was taken “out of great love and concern” in the child’s best interests.