Asylum seekers at the Clonakilty Lodge direct provision centre have held a protest because they claim they were not told of a visit to the centre on Monday by the minister of state for equality, immigration, and integration, David Stanton.

Local election candidates have been left in limbo over whether they are allowed into direct provision centres to canvass.

There was a 26% increase in the number of new asylum seekers in Ireland last year, despite a general decline across the EU in foreign nationals applying for refugee status.

Many asylum seekers living in direct provision centres have described the right to work as “liberating”.

The Irish Refugee Council has called on Health Minister Simon Harris to put in place special measures for women in direct provision who wish to seek abortion services.

The Department of Justice has this evening acknowledged a "regrettable and isolated incident" in which staff at direct provision centre close to the Limerick Clare border refused to give a mother and ill child bread and milk because the centre’s canteen was closed for the night.

The numbers who have been granted asylum here but remain in State-funded direct provision centres has soared by almost 50% to 591 in the past 16 months.

Thirty people arrived in the Co Clare town yesterday with an estimated total of 115 to arrive in the coming months.

It is all too easy to conflate one of the great social crimes of our age — having the temerity to be judgemental — with one of the great human tragedies of the age— mass immigration — and criticise the vote taken last week by a Clare community.

Locals have rejected plans to accommodate 115 asylum seekers in a Clare town.

A 30% surge in asylum seeker applications here last year has resulted in the State moving to open “as a matter of urgency” a new direct provision centre in Lisdoonvarna in north Clare.

The Department of Justice is prepared to spend €13m to find urgent accommodation for the increasing number of people coming into the country seeking refuge.

The Department of Justice has stepped up its plans to provide accommodation and services worth €40m for refugees of the Syrian conflict.

An investigation is underway after a young boy fell from a second-floor window at an asylum seeker centre near Cork City.

The number of asylum seekers in direct provision accommodation decreased by almost 6% last year.

The Office of the Ombudsman has received five complaints from people living in direct provision, in the first two weeks since asylum seekers were allowed to contact the office with concerns.

Complaints from asylum seekers can be investigated by the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children.

An asylum seeker who took her own life after 15 months in the State’s direct provision system was being treated for psychiatric illness, an inquest heard yesterday.

The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) last year spent €60,252 flying destitute foreign nationals home from Ireland.

The Ombudsman and Children’s Ombudsman have welcomed recommendations that they both be allowed to investigate complaints by asylum seekers living in direct provision centres.

An asylum seeker is planning legal action after she unsuccessfully sought an abortion in Ireland last summer.

Asylum seekers have suspended a 10-day protest at their direct provision centre after securing a package of improvements which they say includes the installation of a gym, Sky Sports, and better internet access.

Make no mistake about it — the system of Direct Provision is a continuation of Ireland’s institutional abuse in the early 21st century.

The State was warned a month ago about rising tensions inside one of its largest direct provision centres, which is at the centre of a blockade.

Asylum seekers in Ireland cannot continue to live in the current system of direct provision accommodation, the minister for education has stated.

Reports that women held at direct provision centres are being forced into prostitution to support themselves have been described as "shocking" by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

The number of destitute European nationals flown home from Ireland under an EU scheme increased by 52% last year.

The cost of meeting judicial reviews taken by asylum seekers and other legal costs totalled €5.8 million last year — and was paid by the State’s Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS).

Asylum seekers deserve the right to cook for themselves, writes Sharon Ní Chonchúir.

Migrant rights groups welcomed news that asylum seekers will be allowed to receive election literature, even though direct provision centres are still no-go zones for candidates.

Migrant rights groups today welcomed news that asylum seekers will be allowed to receive election literature - even though direct provision centres are still no-go zones for candidates.

Immigrant support groups have called for the lifting of a ban on political canvassing in direct provision centres.

The Government has failed to get to grips with a broken asylum seeker system while the general public “could not care less”, a leading academic claimed yesterday.

There is no clear reason why asylum seekers are having to wait up to 11 years in the State’s initial refugee reception system, according to an immigration expert.

The Irish Refugee Council has repeated its call for the Government to end the controversial scheme of direct provision for asylum seekers.

Seven cases of inappropriate sexual behaviour were among 121 incidents involving children at hostels accommodating asylum seekers reported to authorities last year.

Another alarm bell, the third in as many weeks, has been rung about how poorly we treat asylum seekers.

The Department of Justice plans to renew efforts to ensure residents of refugee and asylum seeker centres fully engage with an established complaints procedure.

The State paid out more than €655m over 10 years to firms and individuals providing accommodation for asylum seekers.