Row erupts as the UK slaps down an Irish government plan to send asylum seekers back to Britain

An Irish government plan to send asylum seekers back to Britain was met with a point-blank refusal last night.

Ministers in the republic have pledged to unveil emergency legislation this week which would allow them to return migrants to Northern Ireland following concern over an up-tick in numbers.

But UK Government sources said there would be no deal unless Brussels also agreed to take back migrants who cross the Channel in small boats.

The republic remains part of the European Union which has consistently blocked British attempts to resolve the Channel crisis with a returns agreement to France.

Irish justice minister Helen McEntee has said that more than 80 per cent of the country's asylum seekers now cross the border from Northern Ireland.

Ms McEntee said last week she was introducing 'fast processing' in a bid to deal with the influx of people claiming refuge.

'My focus as minister for justice is making sure that we have an effective immigration structure and system,' she said.

'That's why I'll have emergency legislation at cabinet this week to make sure that we can effectively return people to the UK, and that's why I'll be meeting the Home Secretary [James Cleverly] to raise these issues on Monday.'

However, the British Home Secretary has cancelled that meeting, saying that he has a diary clash, with the Government instead being represented today by Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary.

Rishi Sunak told Sky News the developments in Ireland showed that the Rwanda asylum scheme was 'already having an impact because people are worried about coming here'.

A UK Government source said: 'We won't accept any asylum returns from the EU via Ireland until the EU accepts that we can send them back to France.

'We are fully focused on operationalising our Rwanda scheme and will continue working with the French to stop the boats from crossing the Channel.'

Conservative MPs expressed incredulity at Dublin's proposals. Sir John Redwood said 'it takes my breath away' that Ireland wants a 'closed border' with Northern Ireland 'having said it was crucial to the Good Friday Agreement and to the post- Brexit settlement'.

He added: 'As Britain has always been told, we cannot send migrants back to France and so how on earth do they think they could send migrants back to the UK?

'Are they going to arrest these people and put them in handcuffs and take them in vans across the border, and then why wouldn't they just walk back again?'

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said: 'There is a certain amount of irony in Ireland seeking to return migrants to the UK who may have originally arrived from France in a Channel crossing.

'I hope the Irish government will talk to their fellow EU member state about further action to stop people getting on small boats in the first place.

'Clearly we all need to work together to solve this problem.'

While David Davis, ex-Brexit secretary, said: 'This is a Europe-wide issue and until Europe controls its borders then it's going to be difficult for any of their constituent countries to do it.

'But secondly, the issue they are facing has arisen directly as a result of their insistence on a so-called open border between the north and the south. Had they taken some of the other routes that I suggested, for one, then we would have a way of controlling it, but as it stands we don't.'

Detailing Ireland's plans, Taoiseach Simon Harris said it would be 'quite appropriate' for his country to send asylum seekers back to Northern Ireland. 

'Every country is entitled to have its own migration policy, but I certainly don't intend to allow anybody else's migration policy to affect the integrity of our own one,' he said.

'This country will not in any way, shape or form provide a loophole for anybody else's migration challenges. That's very clear.

'My colleague, the minister for justice, will now bring forward legislative proposals to the cabinet on Tuesday that will seek to put in place a new returns policy.

'We're going to await the full details of that but it's one which will effectively allow, again, people to be returned to the United Kingdom. And I think that's quite appropriate. It was always the intention.' 

His deputy, Micheal Martin, has pointed the finger at the Rwanda policy, saying that migrants are leaving the UK because they are 'fearful' of being sent to the African state.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is expected to discuss the issue with the Irish foreign minister and others at a routine bilateral meeting in London today.

Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker said: 'The relationship with the Irish government is fundamental and I look forward to a constructive conversation.'

Last month Ireland's High Court ruled that due to the Rwanda scheme, Britain should not have been designated a safe place to send asylum seekers back to.

This prompted the British Government to 'entirely refute' the court's conclusion. One Home Office source described it as 'absolutely absurd'.