Plane which runs deportation flights for US government stopped in Shannon for second time 

Last week, the plane had stopped at Shannon carrying eight men to Djibouti in contravention of a US court order.

A private plane owned by a company which carries out deportation flights for the US government stopped at Shannon for a second time on Monday.

Flight tracking data shows a privately-owned Gulfstream jet stopped in Ireland for two hours on Monday en route to Djibouti after leaving an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The US Department of Homeland Security has not responded to queries on whether the flight was carrying deportees. 

Last week, the plane had stopped at Shannon carrying eight men to Djibouti in contravention of a US court order.

Last week, the department said the flight contained serious criminals and criticised a judge for trying to "bring them back" to America. It is understood the deportees were from Vietnam, Cuba, Myanmar, Laos, and Mexico.

On Monday, that same judge excoriated the Trump administration for its failure to offer the men due process. In a 17-page court order, Brian E Murphy of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, said the men were being held at a foreign military base in Djibouti.

"It turns out that having immigration proceedings on another continent is harder and more logistically cumbersome than defendants anticipated. However, the court never said that defendants had to convert their foreign military base into an immigration facility," Mr Murphy wrote.

"To be clear, the court recognises that the class members at issue here have criminal histories. But that does not change due process."

The issue was once again raised in the Dáil on Tuesday, with Labour leader Ivana Bacik asking Taoiseach Micheál Martin if he had been briefed on the flights.

Mr Martin said "the minister for foreign affairs is investigating that, along with the minister for transport".

"There are basic frameworks and international agreements around the landing of planes for civilian purposes. It is an issue we will enquire into further. It is not immediately clear from the international framework agreements on this issue how one can address it. We will examine it further and come back."