Seven days that shook the Government on immigration

Late last Sunday evening, word began to leak out from the Department of Justice that a planned meeting between Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and her UK counterpart, home secretary James Cleverly, was off. The postponement of a meeting to discuss migration and the Common Travel Area set off a flurry of activity among flustered officials and Government operatives.

On Monday, McEntee pulled out of a planned appearance at the British Irish Inter-Governmental Council in London, but found herself under renewed pressure over the 80 per cent figure. NGOs publicly chipped away at it, casting doubt on its reliability. On Monday, Tánaiste Micheál Martin told reporters at the BIIGC that the figure was not a hard data point, prompting accusations of him throwing McEntee under the bus.

By Wednesday evening, the front page of the following day’s Daily Telegraph was published online, proclaiming that Ireland was sending police to the Border arising from the row – despite the Taoiseach and the Department of Justice being cited in the story itself as saying this was not the case. “Pure mule,” a senior source dismissively texted on Wednesday evening.

In London, officials dispute the idea that once new laws are passed, the way will be cleared for large numbers of migrants to be returned. In truth, the system has never really been operational. Just one asylum seeker has returned to Ireland, with none going to Britain. Figures obtained by The Irish Times suggest hundreds of requests were not fulfilled – both sides have sought returns in the region of 1,800 people since inception.

Harris has emphasised the hard edge of immigration policy, shifting the frame to deterrence and security – but neither he nor McEntee can immediately overhaul a system to make it more effective at deporting or discouraging arrivals at a time when the overriding political current demands more to be done. A tender has been issued to charter aircraft for deportations, with the aim of dedicated flights taking off this year.

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