Taoiseach appeals to kidnappers not to harm Irish woman

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin has appealed to the people who kidnapped Irish missionary Gena Heraty in Haiti to release her.

Ms Heraty, who is originally from Westport in County Mayo, is the director of an orphanage in Haiti, and was among several people taken in Kenscoff, near the capital, on Sunday morning, according to Mayor Massillon Jean.

Martin said he would the missionary had “done a lot of good for people, and we earnestly appeal for their release”.

He described Ms Heraty as the “manifestation of the very best of missionary endeavour, particularly working for children with special needs”.

The charity that employs her has also appealed to the people who took her to release her.

Hugh Brennan, a trustee of NPH Ireland, described her as “inspirational”, “resilient”, and a “tough person” who wrote poetry.

Mr Brennan has appealed “to everybody out there to do anything that they can to release Gena and all of the others”.

Ms Heraty oversees the orphanage, which is run by the humanitarian organisation Nos Petits Frères Et Soeurs (Our Little Brothers And Sisters).

It is in the commune of Kenscoff, about 10km (6.2 miles) southeast of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Attackers broke into the orphanage at about 15:30 local time (07:30 GMT) “without opening fire”, Mayor Massillon Jean said, describing it as a “planned act”.

The attackers had broken through a wall to enter the property, Jean said, before heading to the building where Ms Heraty was staying.

Mr Brennan told BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster Programme that “everybody in the area would know her, they know her as Madam Gena”.

“Yes Gena would have known of the dangers, and we had discussed this before, but this is now her life’s work, and she would feel she certainly cannot abandon the children with whom she was working – they’re her family,” he said.

Mr Brennan said that Ms Heraty worked with “the most vulnerable of people”.

“Society has basically collapsed in Haiti and it’s so difficult for people growing up but even more difficult for someone with a disability, and it’s these children that Gena had chosen to work with for the last 30 years,” he said.

“We appeal to everybody out there to do anything that they can to release Gena and all of the others and that little child.

“We appeal to them to their own humanity – please, please, the work that Gena is doing is so important for your community, please release her,” Mr Brennan said.

Gang members are thought to be responsible for the attack, Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste has reported.

Gang violence and kidnappings are also common in other areas in and around Port-au-Prince, where the UN says armed groups control about 85% of the city.

In the first half of 2025, UN figures show that almost 350 people were kidnapped in Haiti. At least 3,141 people were also killed in the same period, the UN Human Rights Office said.

Kathleen Davey was raised in Haiti by missionary parents and still has relatives living there; two of her cousins were kidnapped by gangs.

One of her cousins is a doctor who was kidnapped in January.

“She was doing good, as I’m sure Gena was as well, and basically she was taken. She was kept for five days and luckily we were able to negotiate and get her released,” Ms Davey told Good Morning Ulster.

“The gangs are basically taking advantage of disaffected youth because they have nothing, the government is non-existent, there’s a political vacuum, there’s a moral vacuum as well.

“That is what is fuelling the gangs, they have nothing else, they have no hope,” Ms Davey said.

She added that her family are in “constant fear but life goes on”.

She told the programme that she doesn’t recognise the country she grew up in.

“It’s very upsetting to hear the Haiti I knew is no longer.”

Harold Isaac, a journalist in Port au Prince, told the programme that the involvement of NPH is “adding weight to the arguments for release”.

“The organisation that has been victimised by this attack, they have a very long-standing in Haiti, especially for vulnerable communities,” he said.

Mr Isaac added he is hearing from various sources involved that they are “still hopeful that there should be a fruitful outcome”.

“It’s a very tense week politically here in Haiti with a switch in power scheduled to happen in less than 48 hours in the country and that has made things a little bit more touchy,” Mr Isaac said.

He added that the “high profile mediatisation of the case is also adding a layer of complexity”.