Ireland is regarded as a "soft touch" by gangs within Romania's Roma community who organise illegal immigration operations. "It is easy to get in there and the Irish have good terms for these people," according to an investigative journalist, Horia Tabacu, who has researched illegal immigration networks in the country.
Embarrassment in Ireland over the group of 37 Romanian choristers who arrived for a music festival last weekend, only to demand political asylum, deepened yesterday with revelations that their choir does not exist. Organisers of a Sligo music festival had invited the Dorul choir, which said it was from Romania's north-eastern town of Bacau, but having arrived in Ireland 25 of its members claimed asylum, and did not show up for the festival.
Romanian sources said the tape of music the choir sent as an example of their art was taken from another choir. Romania is a country rich in folk bands, many of whom enjoy successful tours of Europe and the United States.
There is hilarity among Romanians over the incident, with many saying the Irish should have guessed something was wrong by the name of the group. Dorul means Desire, Yearning or Longing. "In their case, it seems the longing was for a better life," said Tabacu. "I don't know if they can sing, but getting these visas took some kind of artistry."
Bacau officials insist no such choir exists. Instead, it appears Ireland is the victim of an immigration scam. "There is certainly no choir in the Bacau county by that name. I should know because I have worked for 30 years in this field and I know our artistic scene," said Bacau's director of the county cultural inspectorate, Mr Constantin Donea.
"There has never been a choir by this name," he said. "What I want to know is how they got visas. Normally the visa authorities would contact us for our opinion about such a choir and their artistic quality and such things, but we have not been contacted at all and we are rather surprised."
A Department of Justice spokeswoman said that as far as they knew the Irish consulate in Bucharest had carried out checks before the visas were issued.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said, however, that the honorary consul in Bucharest, Mr Barry Mulligan, had "satisfied the requirements of the Department of Justice" in vetting the application from the Romanian group. "He would have sent on their application to the Department and it was up to the Department to be satisfied before issuing the visas. If they wanted more information they would have asked the honorary consul to get it."
The Bacau county council said it did not know who the individuals in the group were, and their long-term status in Ireland is uncertain. In 1997 the United Nations ruled that Romania, along with Bulgaria, had now improved its justice system to the point where no one could under normal circumstances expect to claim political asylum.
Meanwhile, attention is now turning to next year's event. Father John Joseph Gannon said he would be putting the idea to the festival committee of inviting a genuine choir. "I'll be meeting the committee on Thursday. They would be a great crowd-puller" after the unusual events of last week, he said.
The Department of Justice said it did not know the whereabouts of the 12 people who have not sought asylum, although a spokeswoman pointed out that they each had a 90-day visitor's visa and were in the country legally.
Father Gannon said he had heard a demonstration tape of the Dorul choir and it was "up to standard".
At this year's festival there were choirs from Latvia, the Czech Republic, Norway and Ireland.