'We are shell-shocked' - Irish woman expelled from North Korea 'for insulting the dignity' of country

Carlow native Maria Byrne (inset) was reportedly detained in North Korea

Hannah Stubbs, Press Association

AN Irish woman working for the BBC is understood to have been expelled from North Korea today, the fourth day of the congress of the country's Worker's Party.

Maria Byrne, a producer originally from Carlow, was part of team including reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and cameraman Matthew Goddard who were detained on Friday as they were about to leave the reclusive communist state.