If you are detained in Ireland, you should contact a legal representative as soon as possible. You can request a list of lawyers from the police officer detaining you, and they must provide you with this.
Contacts:
- Immigrant Council of Ireland – +353 1 674 0200 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am to 1pm; Tuesday 7pm-9pm).
- KOD Lyons Solicitors – During work hours +353 1 679 0780. After Hours: +353 86 085 9800.
- Berkeley Solicitors - +353 1 517 5778
Ireland does not have immigration detention centres, however, people can be detained for immigration-related reasons in police stations and in prisons. Not many people are detained for immigration reasons in Ireland as compared to other European countries, but it can happen in some situations and there has been an increase in the number of people detained at Dublin Airport for entering without identity documents.
You can request asylum when you are in prison and you should tell the prison officer this as soon as possible. The International Protection Office will send officials to register your claim and you may then be released from prison, depending on your case. When you are released, you should go to the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin 2 to ask about your application and accommodation.
Reasons for detention
People can be detained for immigration-related reasons when they enter Ireland without documents, a visa, or for other reasons. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of people detained at Dublin airport for arriving to Ireland without identity documents. Sometimes there are identity checks as soon as you leave the aircraft in Dublin Airport.
When you are detained at a ports of entry (airports and seaports), the immigration officials will aim to place you on the next available return flight to the last country you travelled from. When you are detained you may be held in a cell at the airport or in a police station or you might be brought to an Irish prison and held there for several days. The prisons are typically Cloverhill Prison in Dublin for men, or the Dochas Centre for women.
Deportation
You can be issued with a deportation order in Ireland when your international protection application has been refused or where you are found to be in Ireland without an immigration permission.
The first step is that you are issued with a ‘section 3 letter’. This letter will give you three options and you have 15 days to reply to this letter. You can consult a legal representative before you respond to this letter.
The three options are:
- Consent to a deportation order
- Leave the state voluntarily within a certain period
- Submit a humanitarian leave to remain application
If you chose the first option, you will be issued with a deportation order.
If you chose the second option, you can leave the country and you do not need to inform the authorities. You can seek assistance to return to your home country (voluntary retrun). You can apply to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and they may provide you with money to travel and re-start your life in your home country.
If you chose the third option, submit a humanitarian leave to remain application, you must tell the Minister in your reply to the section 3 letter why you should be granted this permission. Your reasons can include: your age (e.g. if a child or if you are elderly), how long you have been in Ireland (if you have been in Ireland for a long time and have settled here), the nature of your connection with the State (e.g. if you have family here and strong connections to your community), your employment in Ireland, your character and conduct, humanitarian reasons, among other reasons. You should contact a legal representative to help you in making this application.
The Minister will then weigh up the various reasons and decide whether to issue you with humanitarian leave to remain or to proceed with a deportation order.
If you are issued with a deportation order, you will have to visit an An Garda Síochána station or GNIB in Dublin every few weeks for the rest of your time in Ireland. The dates will be specified in the letter you receive. You may be detained at one of these appointments and a flight will be arranged to remove you from Ireland. Please note that members of An Garda Síochána (police officers) may also visit your home at any stage and detain you in order to deport you.