Rishi Sunak and Helen McEntee, Ireland's Justice Minister (Image: GETTY)

       Diplomatic relations between the UK and Ireland have now reached “crisis proportions”, with the cancellation of a top-level ministerial meeting this week “a clear snub” for Dublin, a former ambassador has said.

       Ray Bassett also believes ongoing tensions with London can be traced back to Leo Varadkar’s time as Ireland’s Taoiseach - and accused the governments of both countries of “playing to their domestic audiences”.

       A massive row erupted at the weekend after Helen McEntee, Ireland’s justice minister, said there had been a significant increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland from across the Northern Ireland border.

       Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, himself a former Taoiseach, even appeared to point the finger at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, suggesting his Rwanda deportation scheme “may have been intended” to drive asylum seekers into his country.

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       Mr Bassett, Ireland’s former ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas, told Express.co.uk: “Dublin/London relations have never recovered fully from the Varadkar period. The last-minute cancellation of a meeting between the Home Secretary James Cleverly and his Irish counterpart at the last minute over ‘diary problems’ represents a clear diplomatic snub.”

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       UK/Ireland diplomacy has not recovered from Leo Varadkar's Premiership in 2017, said Ray Bassett (Image: Getty)

       The entire immigration issue had been handled “very badly” by the Irish Government, Mr Bassett suggested.

       He said: “It has now reached crisis proportions and the Government seems powerless to tackle it.

       “The crisis took off seriously when Ireland extended sanctuary to over 100,000 Ukrainians, without the necessary facilities to accommodate them.

       “This was compounded when other international migrants seeking sanctuary began to arrive in larger numbers than heretofore.”

       Asylum seeker tents in Dublin yesterday (Image: GETTY)

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       Because of an accommodation shortage, the international asylum seekers were only provided with tents and had to sleep rough, Mr Bassett pointed out.

       He continued: “This has led to tented ‘villages’ suddenly appearing in Irish streets and it caused a public backlash.”

       Net inward migration in the Republic had gone from just over 21,000 in 2021, to 51,700 in 2022 and 77,600 in 2023, according to official figures, Mr Bassett said.

       He added: “In UK terms that would be a net immigration figure of well over one million, on a population pro rata basis. The UK recorded a net immigration figure of 672,000 in 2023.

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       Home Secretary James Cleverly cancelled a meeting with Helen McEntee this week (Image: Getty)

       “The situation and public exasperation with the Government has been compounded by an abysmal record in deporting failed asylum seekers.

       “Figures given to a Parliamentary Committee by the Minister showed that of the 7,300 people to have been refused international protection status in Ireland since the beginning of 2023, fewer than 100 had been deported.”

       Ms McEntee had also admitted that of the 188 deportation decisions agreed with other countries by her department in 2023, just three people had been returned, Mr Bassett stressed.

       He explained: “There is incomprehension as to how this situation could have arisen. The Minister seems to want to concentrate on blaming the British Government, Brexit and the Rwanda Act rather than on her own failure to operate the asylum system efficiently.

       Simon Harris, Ireland's Taoiseach (Image: Getty)

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       “Both Governments are playing to their domestic audiences. The Irish are blaming the British and the British are happy to make the point that the Rwanda Act is having a displacement effect on migration.

       “However with an open border between the two States, it is in the interest of both to cooperate. Unfortunately this is unlikely in the short term with both Governments facing difficult forthcoming elections.”

       Simon Harris, recently installed as Ireland’s Taoiseach, yesterday claimed the UK Government has confirmed there is an "operating agreement" to allow asylum seekers to be returned between both jurisdictions.

       His remarks came as the Cabinet approved emergency legislation from Ms McEntee to allow the UK to be designated as a safe country to enable asylum seekers to be transferred back there.

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       Mr Harris said a post-Brexit deal was struck in 2020 and allows asylum seekers whose applications are "inadmissible" to be "returned" to the UK and vice versa.

       A High Court ruling in March deemed the legal basis for designating the UK as a safe country to "return" asylum seekers to as unsound under EU law.

       Mr Harris said Ms McEntee has acted swiftly to address this High Court ruling.

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