Three children and 40 adults from Georgia deported at a cost of €225,000

A 2025 picture of gardaí preparing to escort deportees during Operation Trench, when the Irish Examiner's Cormac O'Keeffe and Chani Anderson were given exclusive access to a deportation flight to see how the system works. Picture: Chani Anderson

Forty-three Georgian nationals, including three children, were deported from Ireland on Sunday, with flights costing €225,575.

Deportation orders were enforced against 33 Georgian men and seven women. A family including three minors were among the 43 deportees.

Four of the men who were deported had been convicted of offences in this jurisdiction, gardaí confirmed.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) carried out the operation on foot of Immigration Orders on Sunday.

Forty-two of the returnees were removed on foot of Deportation Orders issued by the Minister pursuant to the Immigration Act, 1999; and one adult male was removed on foot of a Return Decision issued by the Minister pursuant to the newly enacted International Protection Act, 2026.

The flight departed Dublin Airport at 1.50pm on Sunday, and landed in Tbilisi, Georgia at 6.40pm Irish time.

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan said that this was the sixth charter deportation operation this year.

“Deportations play an essential role in ensuring our immigration system is not undermined and that people follow the pathways already in place for legal migration. They are also an important mechanism to provide the public with confidence that our systems are rules-based and robust," he said.

Mr O’Callaghan thanked gardaí and his department for their work in “conducting these complex and sensitive operations.” 

"I also want to acknowledge that the vast majority of Georgian nationals are legally resident in the State and positively contribute to Irish society," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"The government has a voluntary return programme available for people who have no legal status, or who have had their international protection application withdrawn or refused. This is the preferred option, and people can only avail of this prior to the issuance of a deportation order."

The returnees were accompanied on the flight by members of An Garda Síochána, medical staff, an interpreter as well as an independent human rights observer.

Further charter deportation operations will be conducted throughout 2026, the Department of Justice said.

The cost of chartering the aircraft today was €225,575.00 (ex VAT) for a return flight.

Up until September 18, some 1,677 people left the State through enforced deportation or voluntary return. Sunday’s deportations will have increased that number to at least 1,720.

In 2025, 2,111 people left the State through enforced deportation or voluntary return. In 2024, that number was 1,122.

Up to the 18 September 2026, 3,381 deportation orders have been signed. In 2025, 4,700 deportation orders were signed, an increase of 96% compared to 2024.

In 2025, six charter flight operations removed 182 people who were subject to deportation orders from the State, and 23 EU nationals were removed on Removal Orders. In 2026 to date 221 have been removed by charter.