Polygamous man seeks entry visa for second wife

A polygamous Lebanese army officer has taken a legal challenge against a decision preventing him from having both his wives and 13 children live with him in Ireland.

Mr Hussein Ali Hammoud, a naturalised Irish citizen, was told his first wife and eight of his children couldn't travel here to live with him on public policy grounds and because Irish law "does not permit polygamy". His second wife and five other children already live with him at his home in Ballinteer, Dublin.

Mr John Eardly, for Mr Hammoud, this week secured leave in the High Court from Mr Justice O'Neill to challenge the refusal of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to allow the entire Hammoud family live here as a unit.

Mr Hammoud arrived in 1998 from the Lebanon, seeking asylum from persecution. In an affidavit, he said he was a member of the armed forces in Lebanon and was Chief of Security in the Amal Militia.

He had been posted to the south Lebanese region. A contingent of Irish UNIFIL forces was also stationed in the region at Tibnin.

Mr Hammoud said he was of much assistance to the Irish troops and this factor was relevant to his proceedings as, during his application for refugee status here, evidence was given on his behalf to the refugee appeals authority by a retired Irish Army commandant.

After coming to Ireland, he had secured Irish citizenship in August 2002. His family unit consisted of two wives and 13 children and entirely conformed to Islamic custom and Lebanese civil law. He had at all times disclosed this fact to the Irish authorities. He says that, in conformity with Islamic tradition and Lebanese law, the family unit is found on two valid marriages. He says he and his two wives and 13 children had lived in Lebanon as a family unit but the authorities here have only permitted entry to one of his wives and five of his children, four by his second wife and one by his first wife.

Neither the Department of Foreign Affairs nor the consulate had raised any objection regarding the status of his wives when the family attended the Irish consulate in Beirut in October 2000. Ultimately, his second wife and their four children were permitted in July 2001 to enter Ireland. Another of his sons, by his first wife, was permitted enter in April 2002. However, his first wife and the rest of his children were still not permitted to enter.