Meeting between Helen McEntee and UK home secretary cancelled amid row over migration
Justice Minister Helen McEntee had been due to meet her UK counterpart, James Cleverly, on Monday. Pictures: PA
A meeting in London between Justice Minister Helen McEntee and UK home secretary James Cleverly was cancelled late on Sunday night amid an escalating row over migrants travelling from the UK to Ireland.
The pair had been due to speak about issues including strengthening the external border of the Common Travel Area and how to prevent abuses of it.
A Department of Justice statement late on Sunday said: "The meeting between the Minister for Justice and the Home Secretary tomorrow has been postponed and will be rescheduled in the near future."
According to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the meeting was cancelled by Mr Cleverly, who cited “a diary clash” as his reason for doing so. Ms McEntee will now meet with senior officials in Dublin.
The now postponed meeting was coming just days after Ms McEntee confirmed that around 80% of asylum seekers are now arriving here from across the border with the North.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said this increase showed that his government's Rwanda deportation plan, which aims to send asylum seekers to the east African nation to deter others from crossing the English Channel, is working. Tánaiste Micheál Martin also suggested it is a direct impact of the UK’s controversial Rwanda plan.
At the weekend, Taoiseach Simon Harris said Ireland would not “provide a loophole” for other countries’ migration “challenges”.
Mr Harris also said that “close” collaboration and co-operation between the British and Irish governments was “not just desirable, but absolutely essential”.
"When it comes to migration, I do think it’s important that there is collaboration, where appropriate, between the PSNI and Gardaí."
The UK government rejected any bid by Ireland to return asylum seekers unless France agrees to do the same with boats crossing the Channel.
A meeting will take place on Monday between Tánaiste Micheál Martin and the UK government's Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, when the former co-chairs a meeting of the British Irish Inter-Governmental Conference in London.
The Justice Minister will meet with senior officials in Dublin today and regrets she won’t be in attendance at the BIIGC, which will be attended by the Tánaiste. The minister said she looks forward to her meeting with the Home Secretary being rescheduled soon.
Ms McEntee’s planned meeting with James Cleverly was to form part of the ongoing extensive engagement and co-operation between the Department of Justice and the British Home Office, as well as operational co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI.
When planning for Monday's now-postponed meeting, the Justice Minister had said she would be discussing how both governments can better protect the Common Travel Area from “abuse”.
“From an Irish perspective, it is essential that we can return people back to the UK when appropriate,” she said. “Over the last month I have been working on emergency legislation to allow us to recommence returns there.
“I will seek Government approval for the legislation to be rapidly drafted so that the UK can again be designated as a safe country for returns.
"My department has been working on this as a priority since last month’s High Court judgment, and I intend that returns to the UK will recommence once the law is enacted.”
Last week, Ms McEntee extended fast processing to whatever country has the highest number of applicants, which is currently Nigeria.
She said she expects this will have an immediate impact.
“Since I introduced accelerated processing in November 2022, the applications from the eight designated safe countries have dropped by 50%,” she said. “I added two additional countries to the safe country list earlier this year, and eight more are under review.”
Under the fast-track regime, applicants receive an interview date when they arrive, and a first decision within 90 days. This means that someone who has a right to protection gets it more quickly, but it also means those without a right can be returned more quickly. It also means those refused have a negative immigration record, which impacts their ability to travel internationally.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has defended her party’s rhetoric on “open borders”, arguing that it has long been her position on immigration.
Ms McDonald claimed there has been "a lot of misinformation” around migration and accused the Government of “scrambling” on the issue.
“Sinn Féin is not for open borders, we are for a system that is fair, human-rights compliant, efficient,” she said on Sunday.
When it was put to her that Ireland doesn’t have open borders, Ms McDonald said: “I have used that term for clarification purposes, and I’ve been using that language and making that point as far back as 2007.”
She referenced an report from 2007 when, as a then MEP for Dublin, she said Sinn Féin is not in favour of an “open door” or “open border” policy on migration.
“I made the point then, and I make the point now, that anyone who says that Sinn Féin is for open borders is wrong," she said.
"We are for a system that is orderly, that is fair, that is human rights compliant, that is efficient — that's an important piece — and that is enforced."
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