common travel area ireland

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Residence rights of UK citizens

Introduction, rights of uk citizens in ireland after 31 december 2020, non-eea family who lived in ireland before 31 december 2020, non-eea family who came to ireland after 1 january 2021, uk citizens and health services in ireland, social welfare payments in ireland, can i use my uk driving licence, can i vote in ireland, further information and contacts.

The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

UK citizens continue to have the protection of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK. The British and Irish governments have agreed that the provisions of this agreement continue now that the UK has left the EU.

UK citizens can live and work in Ireland without restriction.

If you are a UK citizen living in Ireland, you have many of the same rights and entitlements as an Irish citizen. UK citizens can:

• Enter Ireland without a visa
• Travel between the UK and Ireland
• Work without an employment permit
• Access the public healthcare system
• Vote in general elections

These rights are based on a series of bilateral agreements between Ireland and the UK that started in 1922. You can read more about the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the United Kingdom .

In May 2019, the Irish and British governments re-affirmed their commitment to maintaining the Common Travel Area .

The Common Travel Area is separate from EU law, and continues to apply since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.

What about my non-EEA family?

The rules for non-EEA family members of UK nationals who want to live in Ireland are different depending on whether they were living in Ireland before the transition period or not.

If you are a family member of a UK national and you lived in Ireland legally before 31 December 2020, you retain your residence rights in Ireland. This means that you can continue to live, work or study in Ireland.

However, you must exchange your current valid Irish Resident Permit (IRP) Card for a new one stating that these residence rights derive from EU Free Movement under the Withdrawal Agreement. The deadline for exchanging your IRP was 30 June 2022.

Separate arrangements have been put in place for UK nationals who come to Ireland after 31 December 2020 and wish to bring their non-EEA family members.

You have to apply for a visa or for preclearance (if you are from a country whose citizens do not need a visa to enter Ireland ).

You must have a sponsor for your application. A sponsor must be:

• A UK citizen
• Living in Ireland, or intending to live in Ireland
• Able to support you financially

The sponsor must not have been mainly relying on social welfare payments in the 2 year period before your application. Also, they must have gross earnings (before tax and deductions) above the Working Family Payment rates for your family size in each of the last 3 years.

If you are the spouse or partner of the sponsor, they cannot have sponsored anyone else for residence in Ireland in the 7 years before your application.

Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) can also consider the conduct of the sponsor in Ireland (for example, if they have a criminal record).

Who can apply?

Your application is based on the relationship you have with the UK citizen sponsor. There are 3 categories of applicants:

Category 1 –Spouses, civil partners and de facto partners. A de facto partnership is when a couple lives together or is in a relationship that is like a marriage, but they are not married.

Category 2 –Dependent children. This can be the child of the sponsor, or the child of their spouse, civil partner or de-facto partner.

Category 3 –Dependent parents who are 66 or older. This can be the parent or parents of the sponsor, or of their spouse, civil partner or de-facto partner.

How to apply

To apply to come to Ireland as the family member of a UK citizen you must:

• Apply for a visa if you need one, or for preclearance if you do not need a visa
• Pay a fee of €60
• Submit your application and supporting documents

Detailed guidance on how to complete the application form, what supporting documents you should provide, and where to how to pay the fee are available on the ISD website.

If your application is approved you will get a preclearance letter of approval (if you not visa required) or a ‘D’ long stay visa in your passport. This gives you permission to enter Ireland.

When you arrive in Ireland, you must register with immigration and get an Irish Residence Permit.

UK citizens who are resident in Ireland are entitled to health services in the same way as Irish citizens who are resident. This means that they may access public health services if they are ' ordinarily resident '. This is an agreement between Ireland and the UK, and did not change with the UK's departure from the European Union.

UK citizens living in Ireland can apply for social welfare payments in the same way as Irish citizens living in Ireland.

With all social welfare payments in Ireland , you must satisfy the rules for each scheme to qualify. For example, you must be habitually resident in Ireland to qualify for most means-tested social welfare payments.

Residence in the Common Travel Area is treated the same way as residence in Ireland for the purposes of the habitual residence condition (HRC) . However, UK citizens who have recently moved to Ireland may find it more difficult to establish that their main centre of interest is in Ireland.

If you are currently getting a social welfare payment in Ireland, it will continue to be paid after the UK leaves the EU, as long as you continue to fulfil the qualifying criteria for the payment. The Department of Social Protection has published guidance on social welfare payments and Brexit .

If you are receiving a payment from the UK (for example, a British pension) you will continue to receive it after the UK leaves the EU.

Social contributions (PRSI in Ireland, and National Insurance in the UK) paid in the UK will continue to be assessed towards Irish pensions and other social welfare benefits.

You can no longer use your UK driving licence to drive in Ireland unless you are resident in the UK and are visiting Ireland temporarily. If you live in Ireland and hold a UK driving licence, you must exchange your licence .

UK Citizens continue to be entitled to vote in national, and local elections if you meet the general requirements for voting (for example, you are over 18 years old). You are not entitled to vote in Presidential elections , European elections or referendums .

You can register your email address for updates on Brexit from the British government , and from the Irish government .

Gov.uk has guidance on living in Ireland for British citizens .

British Embassy

29 Merrion Road Ballsbridge Dublin 4

Related documents

• Residence rights of EU citizens and their families in Ireland EEA nationals have the right to travel to Ireland and do not require a residence permit to remain here. There are however some limits on these rights. 3236.141
• Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK This page discusses the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK, an area which is not specifically provided for in legislation. 2744.7546
• Residence rights of family members People who live in Ireland can apply to have for their family to live with them. 2323.6904

If you have a question about this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 0818 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm).

You can also contact your local Citizens Information Centre .

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What Brexit means for future of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK

Reader in Public Law, Newcastle University

Lecturer in Law, University of Birmingham

Disclosure statement

Colin Murray receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to support the project “Performing Identities: Post-Brexit Northern Ireland and the reshaping of 21st-Century Governance" (Grant ES/S006214/1). This article does not reflect the views of the research council.

Ben Warwick receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to support the project “Performing Identities: Post-Brexit Northern Ireland and the reshaping of 21st-Century Governance" (Grant ES/S006214/1). This article does not reflect the views of the research council.

University of Birmingham provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

Newcastle University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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They’ve done it. The UK and Ireland have agreed on something Brexit-related, written it down, and finalised it. Alas, the UK-EU withdrawal agreement remains mired in controversy, but that shouldn’t distract from the important stepping stones being put in place regarding the Common Travel Area between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

The Common Travel Area allows visa-free travel between the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands for all citizens. Beyond travel, related legislation in each member of the Common Travel Area has long allowed citizens of other members to be treated in most regards as if they are home citizens, for example for work or residency purposes.

The Common Travel Area was once touted as the solution to virtually every difficulty that Brexit posed for Ireland and Northern Ireland. Although both the UK and Ireland have facilitated cross-border travel for each others’ citizens for the best part of a century, our recent research has demonstrated this isn’t sufficient to keep the border open in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The arrangements have existed for decades in a patchwork of laws and policies. Besides a tweak to immigration policy in 2011, little attention has been given to the Common Travel Area, and EU free movement law has provided a more developed legal framework. For example, welfare provisions in Northern Ireland which disadvantaged cross-border workers were only fixed after litigation under EU law.

What’s needed after March 29, or Brexit day, is a clear legal basis for the Common Travel Area both in the UK and Ireland’s own legal systems, underpinned by an international agreement between the two countries.

Agreement on social security

In February 2019, a newly agreed memorandum of understanding (MoU) on social security belatedly started the process of solidifying these arrangements. For those whose lives straddle the border in Ireland or who move from the UK to Ireland (or vice versa), these new measures will provide some certainty over rights even in a no-deal Brexit scenario.

This agreement on social security equivalence is hugely important, particularly in providing a basis for shared rules. To know whether someone who claims benefits in Louth should be paid by the UK or Ireland currently relies on where that person is “habitually resident” . If, after Brexit, the two countries adopted substantially different rules, people could claim in both countries or get stuck in a gap where neither system considered them a resident.

This scenario is just the tip of the iceberg, and as many convoluted examples exist as there are complexities in people’s lives and patterns of work. This new MoU signals the start of a common, bilateral, understanding on these matters. Next, making sure that the benefits system is efficient and fraud is prevented will require data sharing across borders. In a no-deal scenario the UK would lose access to the EU database on social security, and provisions of the new MoU could rescue social security and pensions from complete chaos.

Alongside this MoU, a new immigration and social security bill before the UK parliament aims to tidy up Common Travel Area arrangements which predated the age of mass air travel. At the moment, a strict reading of the law would suggest that visa-free travel after Brexit would only apply when an Irish national travels directly to the UK from Ireland. The change would make an Irish national’s point of departure irrelevant, meaning they will enjoy access to the UK without a visa even if they arrived from another country such as France, or the United States.

Both countries want to make sure that UK and Irish nationals are treated like home citizens in most respects. Both governments have emphasised that the area existed before their countries’ EU membership and that its benefits should therefore continue after Brexit.

Still, these arrangements are no substitute for a comprehensive withdrawal agreement. First, this MoU only covers the UK and Ireland. Second, its full terms only cover UK and Irish nationals, meaning other EU nationals who have moved their lives between the two countries won’t benefit. Third, it doesn’t cover matters of trade or regulation, and because Ireland granted the EU competence to manage these issues, the two countries cannot address them bilaterally. All of these issues require the UK and EU to agree a future Brexit deal.

More work to do

Social security and pensions is just one area of rights related to the Common Travel Area, and other problems remain. Much is in the pipeline, but the UK and Ireland urgently need to finalise agreements across areas as diverse as security, health, and education.

The Common Travel Area and the rights associated with it reflect an important part of the two nations’ shared history, a reality that isn’t well served by multiple technical legal documents. One potential way to resolve this issue would be for Ireland and the UK to conclude a general framework agreement. This could restate their intention to treat UK and Irish nationals as equivalent to home citizens and to continue to use the Common Travel Area as the foundation of a close and co-operative relationship. Any relevant domestic law could be interpreted in light of these arrangements.

The recent MoU is a recognition that the two governments can be proactive in smoothing administrative bumps, even if the wider Brexit debate frequently presents them as being at loggerheads. But much more needs to be agreed before there can be any collective sigh of relief. The UK and Ireland might have decided who gets the Guinea pig in the divorce, but there’s still the matters of the kids, house and car.

• Social security
• Northern Ireland
• Republic of Ireland
• Free movement

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Do you need a Covid test? All the travel rules between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and rest of UK

• Coronavirus
• Northern Ireland
• Republic of Ireland
• Wednesday 8 December 2021 at 9:22am

By Louise Convery

The Republic of Ireland has brought in new Covid testing rules in the weeks before Christmas, in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

The new testing and vaccine status proof requirements do affect travellers travelling from Great Britain into Ireland, which is part of the Common Travel Area (CTA).

However, the Irish government's rules does not affect travel on the island of Ireland.

Travellers arriving from Northern Ireland are not affected by the Republic's new travel regime, with some limitations.

What is the Common Travel Area?

The CTA is a long-standing arrangement between the UK and Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man that allows citizens to move freely and reside in either jurisdiction.

However due to different jurisdictions setting their own Covid-19 restrictions, some travellers may be confused about where they stand when arranging trips between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.

UTV has put together a full list of the latest rules - including on masks, testing and vaccine certification - across jurisdictions, to consider when planning a flight, rail, ferry or road journey, or booking dining and entertainment with friends and family this Christmas.

What are the latest Covid travel rules within the Common Travel Area?

Northern Ireland advice:

If you are travelling from within the CTA and staying overnight in Northern Ireland, it is recommended that you should take a rapid lateral flow device test (LFD) before you begin your journey and only travel if the test is negative.

It is also recommended you take an LFD test on days two and eight of your stay.

The Northern Ireland Executive's public health advice bans travel to Northern Ireland if you have Covid symptoms, or have received a positive Covid result.

You do not need to fill in a Passenger Locator Form if you’re travelling from within the CTA and you have not been outside the CTA in the last 10 days.

If you are travelling from Northern Ireland to other regions of the CTA and staying overnight, that same advice applies. 

Mandatory Covid passports are required to gain entry to venues including pubs, restaurants and cinemas. 

Face coverings are mandatory on public transport, in shops, and in hospitality venues, except when seated to eat and drink.

Republic of Ireland advice:

New rules for travelling to Ireland were brought in at the start of December.

From Sunday 5 December 2021, passengers to Ireland (including Great Britain) will be asked to show a negative test for Covid-19.

if you do not have proof of vaccination or recovery, you will have to show a negative RT-PCR test which was carried out no more than 72 hours before you arrive in Ireland

if you have proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid-19, you can show a negative antigen test which was carried out no more than 48 hours before you arrive in Ireland

Alternatively, you can show a negative RT-PCR test which was carried out no more than 72 hours before you arrive

Only Rapid Antigen Tests which are listed on the common EU Rapid Antigen Test list will be accepted and it must be carried out by a health professional or skilled testing personnel – you can’t test yourself.

If you are travelling to Ireland from overseas you must fill out a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) before departure.

Some exemptions from testing requirements include:

People who are travelling in the course of their duties, an international transport worker in possession of an annex 3 certificate, a HGV driver or aviation or maritime crew

people travelling for urgent medical reasons

children aged 11 and under

passengers from Northern Ireland who have not been overseas in the 14 days prior to arrival

A Covid Pass will be required for gyms and leisure centres and hotel bars and restaurants. 

Face coverings are mandatory in retail outlets, banks, credit unions and post offices, in taxis, in bus and rail stations and on public transport.

England advice:

There are no restrictions on travel into England from the rest of the Common Travel Area. 

You do not need to complete a Passenger Locator Form; take any Covid-19 tests or quarantine on arrival.

Do not travel if you have Covid-19 symptoms or are self-isolating.

You must wear a face covering in shops and on public transport.

Scotland advice:

Travel is allowed between Scotland and England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

No restrictions apply except if you've been abroad in the 10 days before you arrive in Scotland.

If you are travelling to a Scottish island you are advised to take a lateral flow test before you travel to reduce the risk of coronavirus being brought into island communities.

You should test three days before you plan to travel and then again on the day of departure. If you test positive, you should complete your period of self-isolation before you begin your journey. 

Everyone aged 12 and over must wear a face covering, unless exempt, in most indoor public spaces.

Wales advice:

Travel to Wales from within the Common Travel area is not counted as international travel so you do not need to test, isolate, or fill in a Passenger Locator Form as long as you have not travelled abroad in the 10 days before you arrive.

Face coverings must be worn in all indoor public places, and public transport, including taxis. You do not have to wear face coverings in places where food and drink is served, such as pubs, cafes and restaurants.

Some hospitality venues might ask you to wear a face covering. They can do this because they have looked at how to manage the risks for their business.

The CTA Background

• Paul McMahon

The Common Travel Area

The Common Travel Area did not formally involve aligned immigration rules. However, it involved sufficient alignment and continuing cooperation between the immigration authorities of Ireland and the UK.

The CTA was largely subsumed under the common EU freedom of movement rights when both joined the EEC in 1973. However, it did continue in the sense that Ireland and UK always afforded each others’ citizens right which were not accorded to other EU states.

The Common Travel Area commenced upon establishment of the Irish Free State on 6th December 1922. Until 1939 there was mutual recognition of immigration permission granted to aliens travelling to the other state.

Between 1939 and 1952 there were immigration controls for travel between the Island of Ireland and Great Britain. They were removed in 1952 after an administrative agreement regarding cooperation in relation to entry by aliens.

Under the (UK) Government of Ireland Act, 1949, Ireland is not a foreign country. Immigration control does not apply to persons arriving from the Republic of Ireland under the Immigration Act. Irish citizens and others arriving from Ireland are presumed to have leave to enter.

Such others do not necessarily have leave to enter, including nationals of states requiring a UK visa who do not hold a visa. Certain persons are deemed to have leave as a visitor for three months including, in particular, those from UK visa exempt states.

Originally, the UK immigration legislation exempted Irish citizens only. In 2014, EEA and Swiss nationals and family members with EU free movement rights are now included.

Under Irish law, British citizens are not deemed non-nationals. Irish Immigration control applies to non-nationals who arrive from the United Kingdom by air and sea. Immigration control may be applied to those arriving by land who must obtain immigration permission within one month unless covered by EU free movement rights.

Ireland and the United Kingdom cooperate on immigration control. In effect, they coordinate their visa policies. There has recently been some formal mutual recognition of visas in relation to visas for China and India national.

Schengen Opt-Out

Protocol 20 to the European Union Treaties, provides that the UK and Ireland may continue to maintain their special common travel arrangements. In particular, it facilitated the continuing opt out of the Schengen Area Agreements. The key legislation on Schengen visas and common Schengen immigration control does not apply.

The UK is entitled to and maintains the right to adopt measures and exercise control at its frontiers of person seeking to enter the United Kingdom by verifying the right to enter of citizens of Member States and their dependents exercising rights conferred by EU law and citizens of other states on whom such rights have been conferred by agreement, in determining whether or not such persons have permission to enter the UK.

The Protocol also confirms that Ireland and UK may continue to make arrangements between themselves in relation to the movement of persons between their territories described as the Common Travel Area while respecting the rights of persons entitled to enter.There are operational arrangements within the UK to identify and arrest illegal immigrants coming to it from Ireland at the border.

Other Member States are entitled to exercise at their frontiers or other points of entry into their territory, such controls on a person seeking to enter their territory from the United Kingdom (or other territories whose external relations are its responsibility) for the same purposes (verifying entitlement). This also applies to persons arriving from Ireland for as long as the protocol applies to Ireland.

It has been said by a Professor of Migration Law that the continuation of the Common Travel Area arrangements appears to be compatible with EU law. It has been suggested that Brexit is an opportunity for comprehensive a formal Common Travel Area agreement.

Irish Citizens Rights in the UK (and vice versa)

Irish citizens became subject to UK immigration laws since the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. It was principally aimed at the control of Commonwealth citizens, who did not have a pre-existing connection with the UK. Entry controls did not in fact apply to the Republic of Ireland after 1962 nor were any effective limits placed.

Irish citizens are effectively treated as settled in the UK from the date they take up ordinary residence. They may then naturalise after five years residence. They and their children born in the UK are British citizens.

The UK Parliamentary Committee reports have expressed the view that it is imperative that the long-standing rights of UK and Irish citizens to reside and work in each other’s countries are retained.

The British Irish Agreement expresses the intention of UK and Ireland to develop still further the unique relationship between their peoples in close cooperation between their countries as friendly neighbours and partners in the European Union. The Agreement contains several references to the European Union.

The Effect of Brexit

Brexit brings the risk of divergence between the UK and Irish immigration policies. The EU has acquired an enhanced role in immigration matters and in defining the rights of third-country nationals within the EU. Ireland and UK have opted out of most of these provisions.

The EU rules cover family members of persons exercising EU rights of free movement and EU citizenship rights. Questions may be raised in the event of divergence as to whether Northern Ireland immigration policy might remain synchronised with that of Republic of Ireland and the EU.

Ireland and the UK opt-outs from the Schengen Area Home Affairs and Justice provisions are likely to continue post-Brexit. The UK and the EU have committed to the continuation and maintenance of the Common Travel Area both in the EU  Negotiation Principles and the UK withdrawal letter.

The UK and Ireland are likely to seek to define and give more detailed expression to the Common Travel Area, which goes beyond free movement to include mutual immediate rights to settle in the other jurisdiction.

The most likely outcome is that the Common Travel Area will be preserved without entry or exit checks between Ireland and the UK,  even if differences in immigration rules between Ireland and the UK emerge. This may involve sharing of data and controls at the entry point to the Common Travel Area.

It is argued that Ireland would not need to enforce UK immigration policy in that illegal immigrants may readily enter the UK or Ireland in many ways, including as short-term visitors in any event. There is a range of detailed immigration control measures in the UK which were greatly enhanced in the period immediately before Brexit.

It is likely that the UK will continue to admit EU nationals without visas in any event and may introduce generous terms in relation to residence, work and study. If the UK applied immigration visas to some EU states, this may put pressure on the feasibility of continuing the Common Travel Area. Ireland must continue to afford free movement rights to other EU citizens subject to the limitations of the Common Travel Area.

As currently expressed the protocol does not cut across the rights of other EU citizens. The  CTA itself is recognized as a matter of important public policy sufficient to qualify the general free movement provisions

Possible Issues with Continuation

Ireland and the UK effectively accord each other’s nationals, full free movement rights immediately without any waiting period. This gives immediate rights to reside, rights to remain and right to avail of each other’s social systems. It also gives the rights to vote in elections and referenda.

The maintenance of the Common Travel Area may come under pressure in due course as it necessitates continuing differentiation and carves out from the basic EU  free movement and equality principles which are expressed in the Treaty and potentially invalidate any provision to the contrary.

Generally, EU, anti-discrimination and equality provisions require that a state ( in this case Ireland) affords no less favorable treatment to EU nationals than to its own citizens (much less third country nationals).

Intrinsically the Common Travel Area arrangements delimit the general EU rights and principles of equality.  This may raise issues under the EU Treaties. The Common Travel area is recognised as a matter of policy by way of exception to general rights. The EU treaties allow for exceptions on very narrow ground of public policy.

The same principles will be required to be acknowledged in respect of any new agreement or arrangements between Ireland and the UK. Ireland may not be entitled to treat UK citizens any more favorably than citizens of EU states unless specifically provided under EU law.

Important Notice-   See the Disclaimer Below  Brexit Legal, McMahon Legal and Paul McMahon have no liability arising from reliance on anything contained in this article nor on this website

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• Entering and staying in the UK
• Border control

Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Ireland on the CTA

The UK and Irish governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding reaffirming their commitment to the Common Travel Area.

Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland

PDF , 90.3 KB , 4 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Joint statement of 8 May 2019 between the UK Government and Government of Ireland on the Common Travel Area

The Common Travel Area ( CTA ) is a long-standing arrangement between the UK, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Isle of Man) and Ireland.

The CTA established cooperation between respective immigration authorities enabling British and Irish citizens to move freely between, and reside in, these islands.

British and Irish citizens enjoy additional rights in Ireland and the UK. These include the right to work, study and vote in certain elections, as well as to access social welfare benefits and health services.

If you are a British citizen or an Irish citizen, you do not need to take any action to protect your status and rights associated with the CTA . After the UK leaves the EU, you will continue to enjoy these rights, no matter what the terms of the UK’s exit. Both the UK and Irish governments have committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure that the agreed CTA rights and privileges are protected in all outcomes.

Common travel area guidance

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Majority of asylum seekers in Ireland are POURING in from the UK

WATCH NOW: Row breaks out on GB News over an asylum centre in Kent

By Holly Bishop

Published: 25/04/2024

The UK and Ireland share a Common Travel Area, which began before both countries joined the EU

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The majority of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland are coming from the UK, an Irish government minister has confirmed.

Speaking during an Irish Parliament scrutiny committee where she discussed the figures, McEntee said: “I’d say it’s higher than 80 per cent.”

The minister said that she believes the rise in numbers is linked to the consequences of seeking an open border after Brexit.

“This is the challenge that we have, that we have advocated for an open border on this island,” she said. “It is absolutely a challenge.”

Around 80 per cent of the asylum seekers coming to Ireland are crossing over from the UK

Fianna Fáil Senator Robbie Gallagher, who was present at the hearing, said that the statistic was “particularly worrying”.

Her comments come amid a surge in refugees in the country, as well as a housing crisis which has resulted in many asylum seekers sleeping in tents.

The UK and Ireland share a Common Travel Area, which came into effect before both countries joined the EU.

The Irish government believe that a significant number of recent refugees have come from Nigeria.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• More than 400 migrants crossed the Channel on same day five others drowned in French waters
• Nigel Farage outlines 'what really stands out' after another tragedy in the Channel
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A returns agreement between the two countries is in place, which allows Ireland to return migrants who hold refugee status in Britain.

Taoiseach Simon Harris earlier said that "more needed to be done" to deal with the number of asylum seekers crossing the border from the North.

Speaking at the select committee on public expenditure and reform, Harris said the trend of people crossing the border to seek asylum had grown in recent months.

“We have to do more in this space,” he said.

An asylum seeker who currently lives in a tent outside the International Protection Office protests outside the Department of Integration in Dublin

“This wasn't always the way. And, in fact, this is a relatively recent phenomenon.”

Last month, Ireland’s High Court ruled that Britain is not safe for migrants due to risk of deportation to Rwanda.

Justice Siobhan Phelan said the Irish Government’s assertion of the UK as a “safe third country” where they could send refugees back to was unlawful.

Last year, former Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned that Ireland had reached its limit when it came to adequately supporting refugees.

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Meeting between Helen McEntee and UK home secretary cancelled amid row over migration

Justice Minister Helen McEntee had been due to meet her UK counterpart, James Cleverly, on Monday. Pictures: PA

A meeting in London between Justice Minister Helen McEntee and UK home secretary James Cleverly was cancelled late on Sunday night amid an escalating row over migrants travelling from the UK to Ireland.

The pair had been due to speak about issues including strengthening the external border of the Common Travel Area and how to prevent abuses of it.

A Department of Justice statement late on Sunday said: "The meeting between the Minister for Justice and the Home Secretary tomorrow has been postponed and will be rescheduled in the near future."

According to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the meeting was cancelled by Mr Cleverly, who cited “a diary clash” as his reason for doing so. Ms McEntee will now meet with senior officials in Dublin. 

The now postponed meeting was coming just days after Ms McEntee confirmed that around 80% of asylum seekers are now arriving here from across the border with the North. 

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said this increase showed that his government's Rwanda deportation plan, which aims to send asylum seekers to the east African nation to deter others from crossing the English Channel, is working. Tánaiste Micheál Martin also suggested it is a direct impact of the UK’s controversial Rwanda plan.

At the weekend, Taoiseach Simon Harris said Ireland would not “provide a loophole” for other countries’ migration “challenges”.

Mr Harris also said that “close” collaboration and co-operation between the British and Irish governments was “not just desirable, but absolutely essential”.

"When it comes to migration, I do think it’s important that there is collaboration, where appropriate, between the PSNI and Gardaí."

The UK government rejected any bid by Ireland to return asylum seekers unless France agrees to do the same with boats crossing the Channel.

A meeting will take place on Monday between Tánaiste Micheál Martin and the UK government's Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, when the former co-chairs a meeting of the British Irish Inter-Governmental Conference in London. 

The Justice Minister will meet with senior officials in Dublin today and regrets she won’t be in attendance at the BIIGC, which will be attended by the Tánaiste. The minister said she looks forward to her meeting with the Home Secretary being rescheduled soon.

Ms McEntee’s planned meeting with James Cleverly was to form part of the ongoing extensive engagement and co-operation between the Department of Justice and the British Home Office, as well as operational co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI. 

When planning for Monday's now-postponed meeting, the Justice Minister had said she would be discussing how both governments can better protect the Common Travel Area from “abuse”.

“From an Irish perspective, it is essential that we can return people back to the UK when appropriate,” she said. “Over the last month I have been working on emergency legislation to allow us to recommence returns there.

“I will seek Government approval for the legislation to be rapidly drafted so that the UK can again be designated as a safe country for returns. 

"My department has been working on this as a priority since last month’s High Court judgment, and I intend that returns to the UK will recommence once the law is enacted.”

Last week, Ms McEntee extended fast processing to whatever country has the highest number of applicants, which is currently Nigeria. 

She said she expects this will have an immediate impact.

“Since I introduced accelerated processing in November 2022, the applications from the eight designated safe countries have dropped by 50%,” she said. “I added two additional countries to the safe country list earlier this year, and eight more are under review.”

Under the fast-track regime, applicants receive an interview date when they arrive, and a first decision within 90 days. This means that someone who has a right to protection gets it more quickly, but it also means those without a right can be returned more quickly. It also means those refused have a negative immigration record, which impacts their ability to travel internationally.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has defended her party’s rhetoric on “open borders” , arguing that it has long been her position on immigration. 

Ms McDonald claimed there has been "a lot of misinformation” around migration and accused the Government of “scrambling” on the issue.

“Sinn Féin is not for open borders, we are for a system that is fair, human-rights compliant, efficient,” she said on Sunday. 

When it was put to her that Ireland doesn’t have open borders, Ms McDonald said: “I have used that term for clarification purposes, and I’ve been using that language and making that point as far back as 2007.”

She referenced an Irish Times report from 2007 when, as a then MEP for Dublin, she said Sinn Féin is not in favour of an “open door” or “open border” policy on migration. 

“I made the point then, and I make the point now, that anyone who says that Sinn Féin is for open borders is wrong," she said. 

"We are for a system that is orderly, that is fair, that is human rights compliant, that is efficient — that's an important piece — and that is enforced."

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Ireland ‘reaping what it has sown’ over Brexit with influx of migrants

T he influx of migrants crossing into Ireland from the UK is because Dublin is “reaping what it sowed” in the Brexit negotiations, a leading unionist has said.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, has blamed the Rwanda plan for an increase in asylum seekers entering his country from Northern Ireland.

Dublin believes that more than 80 per cent of asylum seekers in Ireland have crossed the open border .

Jim Allister, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice party, said it was not the Rwanda plan but Ireland’s insistence on keeping the border open after Brexit that was to blame.

“You reap what you sow. The Republic of Ireland insisted there wouldn’t even be a camera allowed on the international frontier and now they lament the consequences of the open border they demanded,” he told The Telegraph.

“It’s hard to find sympathy for those so driven by their all-Ireland agenda and poking the British over Brexit that they insisted on the very thing now swamping them with immigrants.”

Mr Martin, speaking in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday, said: “I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland.

“I don’t think anyone’s gone to Rwanda yet, but to me it’s reflective of a policy,” he said. “But it is having real impact on Ireland now in terms of people being fearful in the UK – maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”

Brexit deal tensions

Tensions over immigration have risen in Ireland amid an increase in migrant numbers and a housing crisis. On Thursday, police arrested six people after officers came under attack by protesters at a site earmarked for asylum seekers in Newtown Mount Kennedy, Co Wicklow.

Mr Allister is a fierce opponent of Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, which he says puts the region’s place in the UK at risk.

The Windsor Framework kept the land border with the Republic of Ireland open after Brexit but at the price of introducing an Irish Sea border between Britain and Northern Ireland.

Dublin and Brussels insisted on the deal to prevent a post-Brexit hard land border on the island of Ireland, in the negotiations to take the UK out of the EU.

Ireland said the return of border infrastructure would put the peace process at risk and that a Brexit treaty was necessary to protect its place in the EU’s Single Market.

Northern Ireland continues to follow hundreds of EU rules under the agreement, which also gives it lucrative dual access to both the UK and EU markets.

Power-sharing was restored in Northern Ireland after negotiations ended a two-year boycott of Stormont by the DUP over the Irish Sea border.

Hard-line unionists, including the TUV, which has formed an election alliance with Reform UK, fear the deal is a precursor to an attempt to unify Ireland. Sinn Fein has called for a reunification referendum by 2030.

Lord Dodds, the DUP peer, said: “The complaints from Irish politicians ring hollow. At every point in the Brexit drama they never hesitated  to  advance their own interests at the expense of relations with unionists and the UK. Now in true Dublin style they blame others for the consequences of policies they pursued.

“Dublin has been vociferous in advocating a totally open border and has even castigated UK efforts to introduce new travel visa requirements for non Irish citizens wanting to travel from the republic into the UK through N Ireland,” he added, referring to British plans to require a permit from non-Ireland residents.”

Baroness Hoey said: “The Republic of Ireland is a foreign country. It’s a bit rich for them to be complaining about something when they themselves have been the country that has refused to accept that there is a frontier with the United Kingdom and their independent country.

“British taxpayers are paying for the EU single market to be protected. We’re spending all this money and putting up border posts in our own country to protect their Single market, which of course also ultimately is also affecting trade between GB and Northern Ireland,” The Brexiteer peer, who is from Northern Ireland, said.

She added, “Chickens come home to roost, as they say.”

Ireland and the UK are also part of a Common Travel Area that predates both countries’ EU membership.

On March 22, the Irish High Court said a decision by the justice minister to designate the UK as a “safe country” after Brexit was unlawful. It said she exceeded her powers.

Legislation is in the works to remedy this but in the meantime Ireland cannot use a refugee returns deal with the UK.

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More than 80% of asylum applicants now coming from UK via Northern Ireland, says McEntee

Minister for justice described ‘challenge’ due to common travel area, which government has worked to protect.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee: 'We simply must recognise that the challenges presented by migration and asylum exist.' Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

More than 80 per cent of people applying for asylum in Ireland are coming from the UK over the land Border with Northern Ireland , Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has estimated.

Ms McEntee told the Oireachtas justice committee, which is holding a hearing on the Government’s decision to opt-in to an EU-wide migration pact, that the estimate was that more than 80 per cent were coming across the Border.

“I would say it’s higher than 80 per cent,” Ms McEntee told Fianna Fáil Senator Robbie Gallagher.

Mr Gallagher said the statistic was “particularly worrying”. Ms McEntee said the Department of Justice engages with the UK authorities regularly, including through a Common Travel Area committee as well as bilaterally through the Department and between the Garda and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

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“This is the challenge that we have, that we have advocated for an open Border on this island,” she said. “It is absolutely a challenge.”

She said there is a returns agreement to send those back to the UK who have refugee status there, although that has been impeded by a recent High Court judgment which she is bringing forward legislation to remedy.

A Department of Justice source said that it was difficult to be precise about the numbers coming across the Border as it was not monitored routinely but that more than 80 per cent of International Protection (IP) applications are made at the IP office in Mount Street without having applied at a point of entry like a port or airport.

The Department believes that the overwhelming majority of those are coming from the UK and across the land Border. The Government believes that a significant number of Nigerians are coming via this route. There has been a spike in applications from that country.

Cabinet agreed that IP applicants from this country will be subject to an accelerated processing regime from Tuesday.

Earlier, Ms McEntee told the committee that up to 80 per cent of asylum seekers will be processed within three months under new EU rules.

Ms McEntee, who said that the new pact would mean that people will spend “less time in State-provided accommodation and ultimately are more likely to be returned to their country of origin”.

Failing to opt-in to the pact will result in Ireland becoming a more attractive destination, according to Ms McEntee. Numbers will “almost certainly increase” but the State would be precluded from accessing solidarity and burden-sharing mechanisms, “severely” limiting the capacity to “send people back to wherever they came from”, she told the committee.

“This would mean more people in the reception system for longer periods of time.”

The pact, which the Government wants to implement by the middle of 2026, has drawn opposition from politicians on the left and right. While the Government says it is a pathway to a fairer and faster immigration system, the plan to approve the pact next week is facing increasing opposition in advance of Dáil and Seanad votes.

Ms McEntee will give an overview of the pact, which consists of seven overlapping directives and regulations, arguing that there are significant risks to not opting in.

“We simply must recognise that the challenges presented by migration and asylum exist. They cannot be wished away. They must be addressed. And they cannot be addressed, in a globalised and interdependent world, by any state acting alone,” she told the committee.

She said that one element, the asylum procedures regulation, allows for “faster, fairer processing” of applications across the bloc, including “very condensed” border procedures for some people including those who come from countries with low “recognition rates” for asylum. It will allow for decisions to be taken in accelerated circumstances or for inadmissible applicants in three and two months respectively, and she argued that the longest time frame for a first decision will be six months under an ordinary procedure.

Under this regulation, she told the committee there are safeguards and appeals mechanisms. “In short, this regulation will ensure people get a quicker decision, whether positive or negative, on their claim.”

She outlined how the pact also contains a new screening regulation which kicks in when someone enters the EU irregularly or is found to be in a member state without permission.

The person will undergo a screening procedure within seven days, including identification, health and security checks and fingerprinting as well as being registered in the EU’s Eurodac database. This allows countries to check whether someone has lodged an application for asylum in another EU country.

Once that is concluded, people will either be entered into the asylum process or returned out of the country.

Another new regulation on the Eurodac database, she told the committee, will be important for Ireland as it experiences high levels of “secondary movement” – where someone has travelled to Ireland through another member state. Under this regulation, the system will be expanded to include collection of a facial images and fingerprints, including reducing the age for fingerprinting to six years and older.

Ms McEntee said this is to provide “stronger protection for at-risk children”, and that accessing this information will “help in returning secondary movers to the correct member state”.

Steps harmonising qualification for refugee status will reduce the incentive for applicants to move from one member state to another, she said, “which is positive for Ireland”.

She told the committee that managing external borders and the return of people without a right to stay in the EU will be done with “full respect for human rights”.

She outlined a new Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR), which will replace the current system for determining which member state is responsible for an asylum application, known as the Dublin III regulation.

“Ireland will directly benefit from a more effective system and process, allowing us to identify and return secondary movers to the correct member state responsible, freeing up out own system to assist those seeking international protection swiftly and efficiently,” she said.

To balance this, the same regulation will introduce a “mandatory solidarity mechanism” – something that certain critics of the pact have objected to. Under this, a “solidarity pool” will be established to balance out the impact on frontline member states where the most asylum seekers arrive, like Italy, Greece and Cyprus. This will consist of countries accepting people being relocated or buying their way out of this with a financial contribution.

Ms McEntee said Ireland’s share of this, based on current figures, will be 648 relocations or just under €13 million annually, with “flexibility” for states on how they meet it.

She emphasised that it does not mean Ireland will have to take an additional 648 applicants. “This may take the form of relocations, a financial contribution, offsetting against cases not returned ... or a combination of those.”

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Off The Ball

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Rishi Sunak looking to avoid election ‘oblivion’ in immigration row with Ireland

19.11 29 Apr 2024

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is hoping to avoid election ‘oblivion’ this week by not accepting asylum seeker returns from Ireland, a leading journalist has said.

It follows revelations that around 80% of asylum seekers coming to Ireland are arriving from the UK through the Northern Ireland border.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin told Newstalk last week that asylum seekers in the UK are ‘fearful’ of the country's Rwanda Bill and this is having a “real impact” on numbers entering Ireland.

Sunak told ITV News this evening that he was ‘not interested’ in accepting asylum seeker returns from the EU, via Ireland.

On The Hard Shoulder today, former BBC and Sky News journalist Dermot Murnaghan said the Prime Minister is taking his stance because of this week’s local elections in the UK.

“He’s getting the Brexit band back together, having a row with Ireland and the EU – it’s perfect,” he said.

“This is a guy who is looking further ahead to the general election, but he’s looking to this Thursday when there are local elections.

“All the polls say they’re going to get a whopping; they’re going to lose 400 or 500 seats and the wagons are circling to try and defend him.

Election 'oblivion'

Mr Murnaghan said Ireland is “collateral damage” when it comes to the UKs immigration plans.

“I don’t think they know what the end is going to be to the project, but nevertheless ‘Brexit must be done’ and everything else is worth throwing under the bus,” he said.

“Good relations with Ireland, the Windsor agreement, it doesn’t matter anymore when they’re fighting like cats in a sack.

“Basically, they’re facing oblivion and that could be sooner rather than later for Rishi Sunak.”

'Electioneering'

European politics professor John O ‘Brennan said “electioneering” on Sunak’s behalf is resulting in deteriorating relations between the UK and Ireland.

“The common travel area between the two jurisdictions has been in place since 1925 and I think most people would argue that it's worked very well for both jurisdictions,” he said.

“But what Sunak is doing, which is driven by electioneering, and the fact the conservatives have no other policy to run on other than this extreme migration policy, that’s what’s plunged this relationship into crisis.

“Sunak desperately needs this win and is engaging in performative cruelty to try and get that win and he’s prepared to do untold damage to UK and Irish relations in the process – that’s the problem.”

Prof O'Brennan added that Ireland "didn't anticipate" how far the UK would diverge from EU immigration policy after Brexit.

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