Flanagan: Ireland may take more migrants

Ireland is considering taking migrants who illegally cross into the EU in a change from its long-held policy of opting out of such policies at European level.

The European Commission wants the taking of such migrants to be compulsory and to continue indefinitely in an effort to relieve pressure on countries such as Italy, Greece, and Malta that have been inundated with more than 200,000 in the past year.

A meeting of foreign and defence ministers in Brussels attended by Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan and Defence Minister Simon Coveney agreed to establish an EU military operation to put human traffickers out of business.