'Inappropriate' pork sausages served on migrant deportation flight

Pork sausages were reportedly served to passengers on a deportation flight from Ireland to Pakistan in a move labelled “inappropriate” by a human rights monitor. The men, from a largely Muslim country, were offered a traditional Irish breakfast while being flown out of the country as part of a wider crackdown on illegal immigration.

The 24 passengers, who had been held in three prisons across Ireland, were deported via the chartered flight at a cost of €473,000 (£410,000). The flight’s human rights monitor, appointed by the Irish Government, said the inclusion of pork sausages in the breakfast was “inappropriate”, adding that “the quality of food was a low standard”, according to The Telegraph.

Despite this, the report concluded that the “overall” operation demonstrated sufficient respect for the “rights and dignities of the returnees”. Air Partner, which operates deportation flights for the Government, changed its menu as a result of the findings.

A minimum of 205 illegal immigrants and criminals were deported on three flights to Georgia, Nigeria and Romania in 2025, at a total taxpayer cost of €1.1m (£955,000).

Asylum seekers are offered up to €10,000 (£8,679.35) to voluntarily return to their home country under Irish immigration law, and they can be forcibly removed if they fail to act on a deportation order.

Figures released this month showed that a record number of non-EU nationals were illegally present in Ireland in 2025, with a record number of foreign nationals also ordered to leave the country last year.

A report published by the European Commission showed that 5,460 illegal migrants were identified in the Republic, up from 3,265 the previous year.

The figures remain below the EU average, however.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has credited the operation of special charter flights out of the country as evidence of Ireland’s renewed focus on immigration legislation enforcement.

Responding to parliamentary questions earlier this month, Mr O’Callaghan said more than 800 people currently based in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres were subject to deportation orders.

“There has been a significant increase in investment into the international protection system which, combined with digitisation and process re-engineering, has faciliated a major increase in processing capacity,” he added.