More than 80 per cent of international protection applicants who arrive in Ireland do so from Northern Ireland. Justice Minister Helen McEntee gave the statistic in response to a question put to her by Senator Robbie Gallagher, who admitted he was "taken aback" by the figure.
Members of the Justice Committee were in the Seanad yesterday to discuss the new EU Immigration pact which, is the European response to the ongoing crisis of people coming to Ireland seeking protection. During the session, Helen McEntee pointed out that the open border in Ireland is one of the results of the Good Friday Agreement and, the way it is policed needs to be re-examined.
Seanad members were advised that Ireland is currently in negotiations with the UK over the issue since the UK Is no longer part of the EU but some of those coming to Ireland do so from the Britain. The UK's Rwanda Bill was passed yesterday and, this will have further ramifications for Ireland, Robbie Gallagher said: "Clearly, the minister got a message yesterday from the committee that we need to do better in this regard," Senator Gallagher told the Joe Finnegan Show, "We need to be more nimble on our feet and react to the situation in front of us. Yesterday, we were told that of the 6,000 applicants so far seeking international protection 2,000 are from Nigeria, which, is not an unsafe country. Now, I was glad that the Minister has moved in relation to that and those applications are going to be turned round in 90 days."
