The cousin of Bernard Phelan has thanked the people of Tipperary for supporting the campaign to see him released.
The travel consultant originally from Clonmel was visiting Iran in a professional capacity when he was arrested last October and only released late last week on humanitarian grounds.
Following his release Greg O’Corry Crowe, who is living in the US but a Dundrum native says that it is thanks to the relentless and sustained campaign that began at grassroots level in Tipperary and across the country that he was allowed home.
Greg says they are so grateful to everyone who got behind the cause and he hope that Bernard soon will tell his own story.
“I can’t imagine the despair at times he went through. I feel the stories, particularly from Ireland, were helping him; the support that he received from people in Tipp; my own family’s from Dundrum, and they were hugely involved. But right across the county, and indeed all 32 counties. Maybe someday you’ll be talking to Bernard.”
He added that they are so grateful to his friends and family in Tipperary as well as all those across the county who played their part and that Bernard now has an extended recovery ahead of him.
“He’s back in Paris. A huge effort to bring him home. He’s recovering, obviously he’s gone through an incredible ordeal. I haven’t spoken to Bernard yet, but I hear he’s incredibly upbeat considering what he’s gone through. There will be an extended period of recover, so we’re just very hopeful.”
