An Garda Síochána have removed a total of 25 non-Irish national sex offenders from the State as part of Operation Moonridge.
Gardaí, through the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), carried out Operation Moonridge in 2025 which identified and deported non-Irish nationals convicted of sexual crimes.
As part of Operation Moonridge to date, a total of 25 non-Irish national sex offenders have been removed from the State.
According to gardaí, this number consists of 14 non-EU nationals and 11 EU nationals, all of whom are now subject to exclusion periods from Ireland.
Operation Moonridge involves “extensive” information sharing between the GNIB and a number of agencies, including the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, the Garda Sex Offenders Management Intelligence Unit (SOMIU) and the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
A garda spokesperson said that the Department of Justice put in place arrangements to take over administrative immigration functions from An Garda Síochána in 2024, in line with the implementation of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland recommendations.
Up to 100 existing garda immigration officers previously tasked with those administrative duties have as a result been freed up to concentrate on “investigative and enforcement immigration duties,” the spokesperson said.