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The Irish ex-soldier being held in Syria over alleged ISIS membership once worked on the government jet.

Lisa Smith, 38, from Dundalk, Co Louth, was a flight attendant in the Air Corps when Bertie Ahern was Taoiseach.

She is pictured here as part of a crew that flew Mr Ahern to the US on a government jet in April 2008.

The then Taoiseach was leaving Baldonnel military airport to address a joint sitting of Congress in the US.

Recently, Smith had appeared on ITV on a video posted online in which she claimed to be British.

But sources have confirmed to the Irish Mirror that the woman in the video is from Dundalk.

(Image: ITV)

She told ITV: “You come, you see the propaganda, you want Islam, you want to come and live in a Muslim country and environment.

“No music, no smoking, no fighting, no drinking, no prostitution… you want a clean life like this, this is what you want, but sometimes it is not like this.”

And it is believed that she joined the Defence Forces in 2003 when she was 19 and left approximately ten years ago.

Smith is believed to have given birth to a child in Syria.

A source told The Irish Mirror: “When I knew her she was based in Gormanston camp around 2005.

“She also worked on the government jet for a while.

“She was in the Defence Forces for at least ten years.

“She left when she was Corporal, she would have been an asset to ISIS.”

Lisa served as a soldier before joining the Air Corps, where she worked for two years as a flight attendant on the government jet.

It is also believed that Lisa served with the 27 Battalion in Dundalk.

It is understood that she was detained in a northern region of Syria in recent days.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it is aware of reports of an Irish citizen being detained in Syria.

In a statement released to the Irish Mirror a department spokesman said: “It is our policy in providing consular assistance and of matters of security that commentary is not given on individual cases and the people or families involved or their background.

"The Government is aware of media speculation and reports of an Irish citizen being held in Syria.

"There has been no recent request for consular assistance from any Irish citizen inside Syria, which is an active conflict zone. It is not feasible at present for Irish consular officials to enter such a conflict zone.

"The Government has made clear that consular assistance, to which all Irish citizens are entitled, will be provided to them when it is possible to do so and where a request is made.

"It would not be appropriate to comment further.”

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The Defence Forces has also been contacted for comment in relation to this story.

In February, alleged jihadi terrorist Alexandr Ruzmatovich Bekmirzaev, a naturalised Irish citizen, was arrested by forces fighting Isis.

When Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was asked if he would take ISIS fighters back to Ireland, he said it would depend on the circumstances.

He said: “That’s going to depend on the individual circumstances.

“We think we may only have one Irish citizen (in ISIS), it may be as few as one.

“I think it’s bad practice to revoke somebody’s citizenship and render them stateless and leave them to be somebody’s else’s problem.”