Irish national convicted in police station bombing deported

BOSTON (AP) — An Irish national convicted of bombing a police station in Ireland in the 1990s has been deported from Boston, according to U.S. immigration officials.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said this week that Darcy McMenamin was deported July 20 after a Boston immigration judge denied his request to remain in the country on June 3.

“There is no safe haven in the U.S. for foreign nationals convicted of terrorist activities,” Todd Lyons, director of ICE’s Boston office, said in a written statement. “ICE remains committed to removing dangerous foreign nationals from the U.S., even those who may have managed to evade immigration law for a lengthy period of time.”

McMenamin was a member of the Irish Republican Army and had a history of terrorism-related crime in Ireland, according to ICE.

At the age of 18, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for participating in the mortar attack of a Royal Ulster Constabulary police station in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in 1993.

The police station had been vacant at the time but the bombing caused minor injuries to two bystanders, according to media reports at the time.

McMenamin was eventually released as part of a program included in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that helped bring an end to Ireland’s yearslong conflict known as the Troubles, according to Irish news reports.

After his prison release, McMenamin entered and departed the U.S. multiple times between 2000 and 2007 through the visa waiver program between the two countries, but he never disclosed his criminal history, as required, according to ICE.

He was also granted temporary entry into the country by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2007 for the birth of his child, but never departed, in violation of federal law, according to ICE.

It's not immediately clear who represented McMenamin in his immigration case. Spokespersons for ICE didn't respond to an email seeking comment Sunday.