Government 'confirms' no gardaí being sent to NI border amid diplomatic tensions

Concern was raised after Justice Minister Helen McEntee said her department was planning to make 100 additional police officers available for “frontline enforcement work”.

The Government has “confirmed” there will be no gardaí deployed to the border on the island, Britain's Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said.

The Tánaiste and the Northern Ireland Secretary held a phone call on Wednesday evening amid diplomatic tensions after Dublin said there had been an upsurge in asylum seekers crossing the border following the passing of the UK’s Safety of Rwanda Act.

Concern was raised after Justice Minister Helen McEntee said her department was planning to make 100 additional police officers available for “frontline enforcement work”.

While Dublin insisted they would not be “assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland”, British prime minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted “urgent clarification” that there would be no disruption or checkpoints near the border.

In a statement later on Wednesday, the NIO said the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris had a “constructive phone call” about illegal migration with Micheál Martin.

The UK's Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris had a “constructive phone call” about illegal migration with Micheál Martin.

It said: “The Tánaiste confirmed that there will be no deployment of officers from An Garda Síochána to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border and that the Irish Government shared a steadfast commitment to securing the external border of the Common Travel Area.”

Another focal point of the diplomatic row centred on Dublin passing emergency legislation to deem the UK as a “safe country” for the return of asylum seekers.

Both governments have acknowledged the existence of an “operational agreement” which provides for the reciprocal return of asylum seekers between Ireland and the UK, but Downing Street has said it contains no legal obligations to accept them.

Mr Sunak said he was “not interested” in a returns deal if the European Union did not allow the UK to send back asylum seekers who had crossed the English Channel from France.

In a softening of language, the statement from the NIO on Wednesday concluded: “The Secretary of State reiterated that the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest.”

The phone call came after Mr Sunak said the Government here “must uphold its promises” to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and avoid setting up checkpoints to prevent asylum seekers entering the country.

Answering questions in the House of Commons, Mr Sunak said ministers were seeking “urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border”, and that there must not be “cherry-picking of important international agreements”.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted “urgent clarification” that there would be no disruption or checkpoints near the border.

He added: “Now, it’s no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent but the answer is not sending police to villages in Donegal. It’s to work with us in partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share.”

Mr Sunak was replying to a question from DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who accused the Dublin of “hypocrisy” given its stance on the border during Brexit negotiations.

Simon Harris stresses 'importance of countries upholding agreements'

Asked about Mr Sunak’s comments, Taoiseach Simon Harris reiterated that no gardaí will be sent to border areas, saying: “Of course there won’t be.”

Noting upcoming elections in the UK, he expressed a desire to not become “involved in the day-to-day back and forth in the House of Commons”.

However, he stressed the “importance of countries upholding agreements”.

Mr Harris said: “We’ll uphold the agreement we have with Britain under the common travel area, the standard operating procedure that we have in place.

“I also welcome the comments of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, where he referred to the importance of the two countries working together to protect the common travel area from abuses.

“Regularising our laws in relation to the arrangement we have with Britain is only one of a number of things we intend to do to ensure we have a firm, effective migration system.”

Asked about the diplomatic dispute, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Harris had provided Mr Sunak’s government with a “propaganda coup” in the run-up to elections.

Speaking to RTÉ, she added: “It’s never a good place for the Irish Government to be scoffed and laughed at in the House of Commons.”

Downing Street has repeatedly stressed that the UK is under no legal obligation to accept returns of asylum seekers from Ireland, and would not do so while France continued to refuse to accept returns from the UK.

It is not clear how many asylum seekers have crossed from Northern Ireland into the Republic, with Downing Street saying it did not have that data as the border is not policed.