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Gardaí Numbering 119, Required To Escort 52 Deportees On €187,625 Charter Flight To Georgia.
Gardaí, numbering 119, travelled on a charter flight to Georgia, latter a country in the Caucasus region between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Their task to remove just 52 people, including 7 children, from the Irish State, at a cost of €187,625 for just the aircraft, according to government briefing documents.
The operation, carried out by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), saw 35 men, 10 women and seven (7) children taken on a flight that departed from Dublin Airport on Monday, November 3rd 2025. Garda statements confirm that the children were all part of family groups.
The 119 members of An Garda Síochána were on board alongside a translator, an independent human rights monitor, a doctor and a paramedic.
Officials stated that four family groups were removed, including three mothers travelling alone, two with two children and one with three children. The briefing notes stated that the 52 people had spent an average of two years and eight months within the Irish State.
A Q&A sheet prepared said 41 of the 52 were held in custody prior to departure. It said individuals can be detained for up to eight weeks (56 days) to ensure deportations can be carried out successfully, with detention sometimes required because otherwise “people may abscond”.
Note, the children removed were not detained and were travelling with a parent.
The briefing also recorded that some people on the flight had open applications seeking revocation of their removal order, but the minister was advised that such applications do not suspend deportation.
On criminality, the documents indicated that most of those removed had no serious convictions, with one person recorded as having a long history of criminality and a small number linked to minor offences.
While charter removals were generally comparable in cost to operations on commercial flights, it said there had never been a specific cost–benefit analysis of charter flights, and the authorities could not yet provide overall cost details beyond the aircraft cost.
In a statement issued at the time of the November operation, the Department of Justice said deportations and removals were necessary to maintain public confidence in our immigration laws.
Three people have died in two separate road traffic collisions in Co. Tipperary in the past 24 hours.
In the early hours of this morning, gardaí and emergency services responded to a two-vehicle collision on the N24 Frank Drohan Road, outside Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Emergency services were alerted at approximately 1.12am. The driver of one vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other people were also involved and their condition has not been confirmed.
Separately, two young men have died following a four-vehicle collision on a local road at Killeen, Ballinunty, around 15km from Thurles, shortly before 6:00pm yesterday evening (Saturday, 13 December 2025). The men, one in his early 20s and one in his late teens, were occupants of one of the vehicles and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Two women, both aged in their 20s and travelling in a second car, were taken by ambulance to Tipperary University Hospital, Clonmel. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. A further six people were medically assessed at the scene and did not require hospital treatment.
The road at Ballinunty remains closed to facilitate an examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators, and local diversions are in place. The local coroner has been notified, post-mortem examinations will be arranged, and a family liaison officer has been appointed.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the Ballinunty collision or who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) from the area at the time, to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Thurles Garda Station, Tel: 0504 25100, the Garda Confidential Line, Tel: 1800 666 111, or indeed any garda station.
The Government is to publish new legislation that will allow An Garda Síochána to use biometric recognition technologies, including facial image analysis, in the investigation of serious crime; matters relating to State security and missing persons cases.
The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 will provide a clear legal basis for the retrospective analysis of images and footage already in Garda possession, such as CCTV and mobile phone recordings. The technology will allow Gardaí to sort, filter and compare relevant images far more quickly than is currently possible.
This move will save Gardaí thousands of work hours and speed up complex investigations where officers can currently spend months manually reviewing large volumes of footage. It is also expected to reduce the exposure of Garda members to distressing material, particularly in cases involving child sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The use of biometric analysis will be tightly controlled and operate only as an investigative tool, with no automated decision-making. All results will be reviewed by a trained Garda member, and use of the technology must be necessary and proportionate in each case.
The Bill also provides for a statutory Code of Practice, to be drafted by An Garda Síochána in consultation with stakeholders and approved by the Oireachtas. The Code will set out detailed safeguards, including strict data protection and human rights standards, and will be published to ensure transparency.
The Government has separately approved the drafting of a General Scheme to provide for retrospective and live biometric identification, in line with the EU AI Act, including for use in missing persons investigations and in protecting the security of the State and protecting those at risk.
A verdict has been delivered at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, in the case of The People (DPP) v Mr Thomas Carroll.
Mr Thomas Carroll aged 67, with an address at Brookway, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, has been found guilty of the murder of 84-year-old Patrick O’Mahony at Ballyreameen, near Castlemaine, Co Kerry, on February 24th 2024.
Mr O’Mahony, a retired Defence Forces Captain and registered firearms dealer, was discovered dead at his home on that date. A post-mortem examination determined that he died as a result of haemorrhage and shock caused by a single gunshot wound, the bullet passing through his body.
Mr Carroll, a retired member of the Defence Forces, had pleaded not guilty to murder. A jury of eight men and four women began deliberations yesterday and resumed their considerations this morning, returning a unanimous guilty verdict, after a total of three and a half hours of deliberations.
The case had opened with evidence that Mr Carroll travelled from Co Tipperary to visit his long-time friend for the weekend, and that the two men socialised together in the days leading up to Mr O’Mahony’s death. The prosecution alleged that events between the friends “took a foul turn” and that Mr Carroll pointed a handgun at Mr O’Mahony with intent to kill or cause serious harm. It was further alleged that Mr Carroll’s initial account that his friend had suffered a fall was “self-serving”.
Sentencing has been adjourned to a later date, when victim impact statements from Mr O’Mahony’s family will be heard.
Alleged School Bus Tender Collusion Case Hears Claims of ‘Loaded Dice’ in Tipperary and Surrounding Counties.
The Central Criminal Court has heard allegations that five school bus operators attempted to “load the dice” in their favour by distorting competition in the tender process for school transport services across five counties.
Five Tipperary men are being prosecuted by the Competition Authority in connection with the provision of school transport services. All five deny the charges.
The accused are:
Mr Andrew Walsh aged 62, Derrymore, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Raymond Heney aged 54, Camas, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Noel Browne aged 77, Bansha, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Larry Hickey aged 73, Ardmayle, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Anthony Flynn aged 51, Golden Road, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
Each man faces a single charge under the Competition Act 2002. It is alleged that, between 1st November 2014 and 31st December 2016, they engaged in a concerted practice which had as its object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in trade in the provision of school transport services.
The trial has heard that all of the accused were involved in bidding for tenders to provide school bus routes during the period in question. It is alleged that, rather than competing independently, the men colluded in how they would bid.
The jury was told that one of the accused arranged meetings with other bus operators, ostensibly to assist with administrative processes. At these meetings, it is alleged that operators discussed the allocation and pricing of school bus routes and agreed to bid for tenders in a coordinated manner.
Counsel for the prosecution, Dominic McGinn SC, said that parties in a tender process cannot lawfully discuss who is bidding for what, or at what price. He told the jury that there was a “degree of coordination” between the parties so that tender prices would end up higher than they would be in a genuinely competitive process.
Mr McGinn explained that competition law exists to protect consumers and taxpayers by ensuring value for money and preventing manipulation of markets.
He told the jury that:
“Agreements or understandings not to charge below a certain amount, amounted to price fixing and provided no benefit to consumers.
Market sharing”, where competitors agree among themselves to allocate specific areas or routes so that there is effectively only one provider, is also prohibited.
Any manipulation of that or distortion of that is unfair to us,” he said, noting that, as this case concerns public contracts, the people ultimately affected are taxpayers.
Mr McGinn said the alleged conduct did not require a formal written agreement, but involved collusion, an exchange of information and coordination that led to “the disappearance of competition” in the relevant tenders.
He told the jury that the case was not about the importance of school transport for children in Tipperary, nor about the fact that the accused men are approaching retirement and are alleged to have committed the offences late in their careers. Rather, he said, the case concerns whether the five men, and possibly others, attempted to “load the dice” to distort competition in the school transport market.
All five accused have pleaded not guilty.
The trial continues today, Thursday, before Mr Justice David Keane and a jury of seven men and four women.
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