Comment: Fresh tensions over Ireland鈥檚 post-Brexit border Published on: 15 May 2024 Writing for The Conversation, Dr Niall Cunningham discusses the impact of the recent increase in asylum seekers that Ireland has experienced. , Two weeks ago, the Irish police force cleared a Dublin encampment of around 200 tents . The migrants were bussed to sites on the fringes of the city, where the government said they would be provided with the food, sanitation and security they were lacking on the streets of Dublin鈥檚 elegant Georgian quarter. This operation was repeated a week later, against another informal encampment of which had appeared along the banks of the Grand Canal. Ireland is struggling to house asylum seekers amid an unprecedented housing and homelessness crisis, partly driven by the increasing the demand for new homes. Dublin is a key location for major multinationals looking for tax breaks. Ireland experienced a 12% GDP compared to a Euro area average of 3.5%. Dublin has blamed the recent uptick in asylum seekers on the UK鈥檚 . Ireland鈥檚 justice minister Helen McEntee claimed that 80% of new arrivals were entering via the open border with Northern Ireland, suggesting they were hoping to avoid being sent to Rwanda. Rishi Sunak has been happy to promote this, arguing that it shows the policy is having its intended . The claim, however, has led to a spat within the Irish government. The deputy prime minister, Miche谩l Martin of the coalition partner Fianna F谩il party, countered that the claim was not based on any . This has led to debate on the of the claims, which can鈥檛 be conclusively verified with the available data. Newly-selected Taoiseach Simon Harris initially backed his Fine Gael party colleague McEntee, Ireland would 鈥渘ot provide a loophole鈥� for any other country鈥檚 immigration challenges. These comments reflect rapidly towards the question of irregular international migration. In an effort to control the situation, the Irish government threatened to rush 100 extra Garda铆 to secure the border and . But they swiftly retreated from this as that there could no 鈥渃herry-picking鈥� of international agreements. Here, the prime minister was referring to the Good Friday Agreement, which requires maintaining an open border on the island. Ironically, Sunak may also now be accused of cherry-picking in that the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement were never meant to apply to illegal or irregular migration. A judge in Northern Ireland鈥檚 high court has ruled that parts of the UK鈥檚 Illegal Migration Act 鈥� a key part of its policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda 鈥� cannot apply in Northern Ireland. The judge said the law is incompatible with the Windsor framework, the post-Brexit arrangement for Northern Ireland. The framework mostly deals with trade, but also upholds human rights provisions in the Good Friday Agreement. The ruling is the latest example of how, in attempting to strengthen its borders, the UK government has overlooked the longstanding complications of the Irish border. Tensions around migration The fact that Dublin was so blindsided by recent flows of migrants reflects an underlying political and ideological complacency about what an open border in Ireland was supposed to be for. I have discussed these issues further . The Brexit debates focused on flows of goods and people across the island of Ireland, with the historical context of intense political violence on the border. Due to its peripheral European geography, Ireland has largely been insulated from migration flows and pressures from outside of Europe, and did not envisage the sort of backdoor scenario that now appears to be taking place. The reaction, both by politicians and members of the public, highlights tensions around migration that have been simmering for years, and which exploded into international view with the the capital has faced since independence with the riots of November last year. Ireland has experienced rapid ethnic diversification in recent years, people living there being born outside the country. In the UK, the figure for those . The that half the population now wants migrant checkpoints on the land border. This increases to 52% of Sinn F茅in voters, whose primary political objective is a united Ireland. The latest spike in migrants seeking to call Ireland home has clearly caught politicians on the hop. In the process of looking for someone or somewhere to blame, it has refocused attention on the border in a way that would not have been predicted a few years ago. During the Brexit negotiations, efforts were made to avoid a hard border at all costs. Harris鈥� predecessor Leo Varadkar was steadfast in his commitment to an , arguing that controls and security apparatus could lead to a return to the . The sight of protesters in Dublin arguing to is an uncomfortable contradiction with this history. And, while it might seem an , the distribution and scale of wider anti-immigrant protests means that this sentiment can no longer be seriously dismissed as existing on the political margins. , Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Human Geography, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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