Ireland welcomed an average of 87 asylum seekers per day last week.
That’s according to the latest figures from IPAS that show 610 asylum seekers arrived in the country in the seven days up to May 5th – the highest number of weekly arrivals this year.
It brings the total number of asylum seekers in State accommodation up to 30,027 – a six-fold increase since 2017.
Asylum seekers sleeping in tents outside Dublin’s International Protection Office. Image: Rory Walsh/NewstalkSome 38% of those arriving in Ireland last week were male, 27% were children and 21% were couples.
Nigerian nationals accounted for 222 asylum seeker arrivals last week, with 58 coming from Jordan and 54 from Afghanistan.
Of those seeking asylum in the State, 10,951 are being accommodated in Dublin, 1,859 in Cork, and 1,399 in Mayo.
'Government is struggling' with asylum issue
Newstalk Chief Reporter Barry Whyte said it comes at a difficult time for Government.
“To put this into perspective, in the first four months of 2024, the number of international protection applications increased by 95% when compared to the same period last year," he said.
“So, this year has seen a record number of asylum seekers arriving here, and that number is now increasing every week - at a time when the Government is struggling to source accommodation.”
Asylum seeker tents on the Grand Canal. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ieThis morning, a multi-agency operation moved over 100 tents from the Grand Canal that had been housing asylum seekers.
Some 163 people were moved to State-provided accommodation at Crooksling and the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin.
Tents also popped up elsewhere in Dublin today, including on a grass area near the East Link Toll Bridge in Ringsend.
Within an hour of them arriving at Ringsend, locals told them they were not welcome in the area and tried to forcibly remove the tents before the asylum seekers left the area.
Main image: The International Protection Office on Mount Street. Image: Mark Henderson / Alamy Stock Photo
