Immigration has quickly become a hot topic among some cohorts of the Irish population, new polling data shows.

The number of people saying immigration is one of the top issues for the government to deal with increased from 7% last month to 11% this month.

The information comes following a series of protests relating to the housing of asylum seekers and refugees.

East Wall residents said they were not consulted by the Government when it decided to use a former ESB office building to house asylum seekers.

There have been a number of counter-protests too, which aim to shut down "misinformation" and make immigrants feel more welcome.

Aontú and Independents

Kevin Cunningham, founder of Ireland Thinks which ran the survey, told On The Record that certain political groups are much more interest in the issue.

"It's a very unique issue and it's principally supporters of independent candidates and supporters of Aontú ... that are particularly most interested in this issue."

Over 30% of those polled in both groups identified immigration as a priority.

How other parties respond to this increased interest, Prof Cunningham said, will impact the national conversation.

He believes it was the issue responsible for the rise of the right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP) in Britain.

"In addressing the issue, political parties need to be a bit more careful."

Independent & Aontú supporters are most likely to say immigration is the most important issue facing the country.

"Which two of the following issues should be the two most important priorities for the country to deal with?"
% selecting Immigration within each party. pic.twitter.com/KNKQjSlvyG

— Kevin Cunningham (@kevcunningham) December 3, 2022

He took Peter Casey's presidential bid in 2018 as an example.

"He made a statement around travelers, for example, for which the entire political system basically rounded on him initially", Prof Cunningham explained.

"Because there is this populist sentiment out there, that ended up amplifying his message."

"While most people wouldn't necessarily take the same position of people who are quite anti-immigrant, once that particular issue becomes particularly salient it can become a dominant issue."

He said that immigration has the potential to "completely redraw the political map" in any country where the issue becomes salient.

Listen back to the full conversation here.

Main image shows Immigration Control at Dublin Airport's Terminal 1 is seen in 2014. Picture by: Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie