TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said he expects to talk with former president Mary Robinson about her controversial trip to Dubai.

Ms Robinson has been subject to criticism since her meeting with Princess Latifa last month who had made a reported attempt to escape the Emirate.

Photographs were issued by the authorities in Dubai showing the pair having lunch together.

Mr Varadkar declined to comment on the visit saying: “I just don’t know enough about it and I haven’t had a chance to speak to Mary Robinson in a few weeks.”

He added: “We are in touch and I imagine we will have a chance to talk about it in the future”.

Prior to Ms Robinson’s visit Latifa, the daughter of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had not been seen in public since reports she had been recaptured near the Indian coastline after her apparent escape attempt last March.

Ms Robinson had been invited to Dubai by Latifa’s stepmother, Princess Haya bint Hussein.

The former President told the BBC that Latifa is a “troubled young woman” who is in the “loving care of her family”.

The nature of the visit has been criticised by advocacy groups Human Rights Watch and Detained in Dubai.

Ms Robinson has insisted that she travelled to Dubai to meet Latifa “in good faith” and has written a report of her visit for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Earlier this week she ignored questions about the Dubai visit as she she attended the ‘Global Ireland 2025 Conference: Making it Happen’ at Dublin Castle.

Despite posing for photographs upon her arrival at the Castle, Ms Robinson did not acknowledge a question asking for comment on her trip to Dubai as she made her way into the conference hall.

Source: Read Full Article