A West Cork missionary priest serving in South Sudan has given a chilling account of the moment a mob attacked his compound as a civil war rages in the country.

460 asylum seekers who have secured their refugee status are still living in direct provision centres, in many cases because they cannot secure alternative housing.

A former High Court judge has called for an amnesty for asylum seekers stuck in the application process for five years or more, saying the gesture would honour the ideals of the 1916 rebels.