LAST UPDATE | 5 Jun

SOME 35 PEOPLE, including five children, were deported from Ireland last night on a special chartered flight to Nigeria.

It’s the third such chartered flight so far this year and was carried out by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

It saw the removal of 35 people, including 21 men, nine women and five children, all of whom are Nigerian nationals, according to the Department of Justice.

The children removed are all part of family groups.

The chartered flight left Dublin Airport last night for Nigeria.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said the flight “landed safely this morning in Lagos, Nigeria”.

However, it had to make an unscheduled stop due to a medical incident on board.

O’Callaghan added that the people on board “had received but had not complied with Deportation Orders”.

He also said that such removal operations “send a clear message that there are consequences for people who remain in our country without permission”.

When a person does not comply with a deportation order they can be arrested and detained to ensure their deportation.

The Department of Justice said carries out enforced removals as a “last resort” when a person does not remove themselves from the State.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána remarked that the force “continues to work closely with the Department of Justice in implementing immigration policy”.

The Department of Justice has said further charter operations will be conducted throughout the year. 

The first charter flight took place at the end of February and involved the deportation of 28 men, three women, and a child who was on the flight with their mother and father.

The second of these flights was chartered at the beginning of the month and saw 39 people deported to Georgia.

This group included 30 men, four women and five children, and each of the five children were part of family groups.

In addition to this, some 54 deportation orders have been enforced on commercial flights and 23 people subject to deportation orders have left Ireland unescorted so far this year.