23 people who had been served with deportation orders have been removed from Ireland after refusing to leave voluntarily.
The 19 men and four women - who are Georgian and Albanian nationals - were subject to 'enforced removal' following an Irish-led operation by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, in cooperation with Belgium and Iceland.
They left Dublin Airport on a chartered flight with planned stops in Tirana in Albania and Tbilisi in Georgia.
Two medical staff, two Frontex monitors and officers from the Garda National Immigration Bureau accompanied the 23 people on the flight.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said: "Enforced removals are carried out as a measure of last resort when the person concerned has not removed themselves from the State or engaged with the International Office for Migration (IOM) to avail of assisted voluntary return measures.
"A person subject to a Deportation Order has no legal basis to remain in the State.
"Each individual case to remain in the State had been considered in detail and all available appeals processes had been exhausted. "
The department adds that ten of the people removed today had been availing of accommodation services through the direct provision system.
