20 families of Irish-born children deported

TWENTY families of Irish-born children have been deported and more than 1,500 others have been threatened with the same fate since a Supreme Court ruling of January 2003.

Department of Justice figures show that in each case the parents took their children with them.

The number of non-national families that have received letters from the department telling them of the State's intention to deport them has increased almost five-fold in the last four months.