Dublin deports 24 Romanian citizens on charter flight

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Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Wire) PA Wire

Ireland has removed twenty-four Romanian men on a charter flight from Dublin Airport, enforcing removal orders against EU citizens under the Free Movement Directive on grounds of criminality. The flight departed at 4.25pm and has since arrived in Bucharest. The aircraft operation cost 182,270 euro.

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said the men, aged between 24 and 57, were removed because their criminal behaviour meant they were no longer entitled to what he called the "privilege" of free movement. "Restricting the right to freedom of movement of European citizens is not a measure I take lightly, but there must be consequences," he said. Re-entry bans of up to ten years have been applied to each man. Eighteen were removed directly from Irish Prison Service custody; the remaining six were arrested and detained across Ireland before the flight.

The operation was run by the Garda National Immigration Bureau, with Garda personnel, medical staff, interpreters and a human rights observer accompanying the men. O'Callaghan framed the charter flight as proof of his commitment to enforcement: "I will take action if our laws are not upheld and this includes enforcing removal orders for individuals who are a danger to the public."

The machinery built for third-country deportations evidently works on union citizens as well. Freedom of movement, the treaty right that defines the internal market, turns out to rest on national discretion the moment a member state decides a citizen's record forfeits it — and the directive leaves the state to define the threshold. Ireland has now demonstrated that a charter plane and a ten-year ban are within a minister's reach without leaving EU law.