IRELAND: Irish authorities say six Nigerian nationals with a combined 75 criminal convictions were deported on a chartered aircraft after police assessed them as too high-risk to be removed on commercial flights.
The Irish authorities spent nearly €77,000 on a chartered aircraft to deport six Nigerian nationals with a combined 75 criminal convictions, after a police risk assessment determined that some of them were too dangerous to be transported on ordinary passenger flights.
According to the Irish Examiner, the Garda National Immigration Bureau concluded that several of the men were too “high risk” to be deported on commercial airlines.
The six Nigerians were subsequently flown to Rome in late July, where they joined a joint deportation operation organised by the Italian government and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, to return migrants from several European Union member states to their countries of origin.
A briefing document prepared by Ireland’s Department of Justice for Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan explained that the deportation followed an assessment of the risks associated with transporting the men on commercial aircraft.
“After completion of a risk assessment by the Garda National Immigration Bureau in relation to the six deportees, it was concluded that several of them were high risk, and that it was not appropriate for them to be removed from the State on commercial flights,” the document stated.
The department explained that the joint operation helped address limitations in Ireland’s deportation arrangements, particularly where individuals could not be safely removed through regular commercial flights.
According to the briefing, commercial airlines generally permitted only one deportee per flight, making it difficult to remove multiple individuals requiring special security arrangements.
Although Ireland could lease an aircraft specifically for deportations, the department noted that the number of people awaiting removal might sometimes be too small to justify the expense of a dedicated charter.
Under the joint Frontex arrangements, Ireland pays for seats on the aircraft, with the costs shared among participating EU member states.
The department said Ireland would be informed of the cost of its seats after the completion of each joint return operation.
The briefing document also indicated that Ireland intended to participate in more Frontex-organised deportation flights.
Such operations, it explained, would enable the country to return individuals to destinations where arranging a charter flight independently could be difficult or where the number of deportees was insufficient to make a dedicated flight economically viable.
Responding to questions about the operation, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the removal of individuals involved in criminal activities and those considered a danger to society remained a priority for the ministers responsible for justice.
“For the charter cited, which participated in a joint return operation to Nigeria managed by Frontex, deportation orders were enforced against six Nigerian nationals,” the spokesperson said.
The department further disclosed that six charter operations conducted so far in 2026 had resulted in the removal of 221 people from Ireland.
Among those deported were 67 citizens of other EU member states who were removed on grounds of criminality.
The operation forms part of Ireland’s broader efforts to enforce deportation orders against foreign nationals, including those whose criminal records or assessed security risks make their removal more complicated.
