Fourteen people found in refrigerated trailer at Rosslare Europort after 999 'distress call'

Fourteen people, including two young children, were found in a refrigerated trailer at Rosslare Europort following a distress call to the UK Coastguard.

Nine men, three women and two young girls discovered at approximately 3am on Monday morning, when the vehicle was stopped and searched after arriving on a ferry.

It is understood the alarm was raised after a distress call was made to UK authorities from inside the trailer, which was subsequently passed on to Irish authorities.

According to local Independent Councillor Ger Carthy, the call was made to the UK Coastguard at approximately 1am on Monday, January 8, after the people in the trailer had "difficulty breathing".

"They may have had to break a hole inside of it to access some some air but the call was originally made, I believe because they had shortness of breath. You can imagine, 30 hours, they were 28 hours in it at that stage," said Mr Carthy, who is also the Operations Resource Manager with the National Ambulance Service.

Gardaí and a number of ambulances were waiting at Rosslare Europort when the ferry docked.

The group,  who are understood to be Kurdish and Vietnamese, was assessed by medical personnel at the scene and all were said to be in good health and have been taken to a processing centre in Dublin.

Gardaí say investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been made as part of the inquiry.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the next step for the Government is to "facilitate voluntary return" for migrants found in Rosslare.

"If they choose to apply for asylum, they are legally entitled to do that, and we will try and process the application as quickly as possible."

"Our first response is always a humanitarian one, to check that they are alive and in good health," Mr Varadkar continued.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said it was fortuitous that those found in the trailer are in good health, given it was "an extremely hazardous undertaking".

"We know from past experience that similar situations have led to tragic fatalities. This was an extremely hazardous undertaking and it is only fortuitous that the same did not happen yesterday," she said.