Two brothers who were among 35 people deported from Ireland this week were described as "really popular" and fully integrated into their Dublin primary school.
Thirty-five people, including five children, were deported from Ireland to Nigeria on Wednesday night.
The 21 men, nine women and five children were refused International Protection and left on a chartered flight which departed Dublin Airport for Lagos.
Principal of St James's Primary School Ciarán Cronin said the boys' mother had an immigration appointment scheduled for next month.
"So, for this to be sprung on them, if they thought that they were awaiting a further appointment with immigration, that's a very cruel way to do things to children," he said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Cronin said other children who lived in the same facility as the boys saw them and their mother being removed ahead of the deportation flight to Nigeria.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"On Wednesday morning they all came to school completely distressed, upset, visibly shaken by what they had seen at the hotel in the morning. And they had watched as the family's stuff was packed up out of their hotel rooms and they were put on to a minibus to be taken away.
"They came to school then to tell us that. That's how we found out what was happening. We had been in touch with the mother for a long time, knowing that they were going through the deportation process. But we were trying to advocate on their behalf, put in character references to say how lovely the children are and how much we want to keep them here in the school.
"But on Wednesday morning, when the children came in, we kind of knew it's the end of the line for them, unfortunately," Mr Cronin said.
He described the brothers as "two really popular boys" with loads of friends.
"They were part of the football team. They played the Cumann na mBunscol GAA tournament the last two years, two really popular boys, had loads of friends and got on really well with everyone and they're just such a huge loss to the school. Such a huge loss," he said.
Mr Cronin said that in March 2022, 32 children living in the Red Cow Hotel were enrolled in the school.
Many were later moved to different accommodations around the country, but 14 were still attending St James's Primary School.
He said that yesterday the teachers explained to the other children that their friends were gone and were not coming back.
"At home time yesterday pupils ran out in tears telling their parents that they're gone. And that's the impact that it's having.
"They've lost their friends, they're looking to see if they have their WhatsApp, if they're online, on their WhatsApp that they can contact them, that kind of stuff, and they haven't been able to make contact with them since.
"So, the children are so upset, but also for the children who are living in the Red Cow, they're all terrified because they think it might be them next."
Mr Cronin said as educators they have been told to "do things in a trauma informed way and be careful how you speak to children who've been through traumatic situations", but said it "just feels that this wasn't handled in that way at all."
He said that changing the system to speed up the process to prevent children being in schools for years before a decision is made will not make the children in his school "feel any better about what's happened to their friends".
Amnesty 'not a good idea' - O'Callaghan
The Minister for Justice has rejected calls for an amnesty to prevent the deportation of children following criticism from teachers and opposition politicians of the removal of children from the State with their families.
Jim O'Callaghan said it was "not a pleasant thing" to have to deport children, but there had to be a consequence for people not leaving the State when directed to do so.
Speaking in Templemore, the minister said an amnesty was "not a good idea" and a policy whereby people with children could not be deported would make Ireland "an outlier in Europe".
'Immensely painful situation' - Gannon
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the incident was devastating.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said that compassion needed to be considered, as the consequences felt at the school there represented an "immensely painful situation".
He added that he did not think any parent or person of conscious could accept that this is how children within this State would be treated, adding that he did not accept that children should feel the consequences for what had been a State failure for a broken migration system.
Mr Gannon accused the Minister for Justice of performative cruelty and said that the State wanted to look tough in "sending a message" and that children should not be the victims of this.
He called for an audit of children under deportation orders and for their roles in their community to be looked at, and questions asked as to whether it is moral to send children back to countries to which they no longer have any connection to.
"I want decency and fairness. I do not want to see a replication of what has happened. This cannot happen again. All of this can be done better," he said.
