Westmeath minor football star granted Irish citizenship

Westmeath minor footballer Israel Ilunga has been granted Irish citizenship.

A native of The Congo, Israel was a member of the Westmeath minor football team which reached the Leinster final last year, and is rated as one of the county's brightest footballing prospects. But the Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall player faced deportation until his citizenship was confirmed last week.

Westmeath minor football manager Tom Carr, speaking to the Irish Examiner, said that the Department of Foreign Affairs' decision lifted a huge weight off Ilunga's mind.

'It's very difficult to commit to a community or a country let alone a GAA team when you're wondering if you could be gone in a month's time,' said Carr.

'That fear was absolutely there. You put yourself in that position, when you're waiting on someone to decide if they're going to deport you back to Liberia or leave you here.

'I think you'd find that a very difficult situation to be in. So it really is terrific news.'

Ilunga, who lives in Castletown (Finea), won an All-Ireland Vocational Schools medal with Cnoc Mhuire, Granard last year.

He played for Westmeath in the Leinster MFC quarter-final defeat to Offaly in Tullamore last Friday evening (see report and reaction from that game in this week's Westmeath Independent).