Ireland has seen a big increase in the number of applications for international protection.
Between January and June this year, 6,494 applications were lodged - compared to 2,235 applications in the first half of 2019.
While there was also an increase in applications across the EU, Ireland was among a small number of countries that saw applications rise continuously throughout the first six months of 2022.
New research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has said key factors include post-COVID migration and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Keire Murphy, co-author of the report, told Newstalk Breakfast Ireland is playing catch-up.
"We looked at the absolute number, the large increase, and then an unusual distribution towards Ireland: why Ireland, which is not a usual destination country, is seeing a larger increase than the UK or Europe for example," she said.
"We found that there's a variety of factors, so lots of things going on at the same time.
"COVID-19 explains a big chunk of it - migration was essentially repressed for two years... partially this is a catch-up migration from that suppression.
"We've seen the Russian invasion of Ukraine... and in February, both the restrictions lifted and also this [invasion] happened that had impacts around the world".
Ireland's migration transition
Ms Murphy said Ireland's preference as a destination is part of a "long-term network effect."
"Ireland's had its migration transition much later than other European countries and in part we're just kind of now catching up with the rest of Europe," she said.
"Social networks are really, really important for migration."
Asked if Ireland was viewed as a 'soft touch' when it comes to migration, she said this is not really a factor.
"What we really found is that that is not very influential; even if it is the case, it's not a massive influence on destination selection," she said.
"Generally the policies in the country have a minimal impact on where people decide to apply - social networks are much more important.
"One of the things that really matter is the people's perception that they can have a long-term settled future there, because for this type of migration that's largely what they're missing.
"So that can be important but, for example, welfare policies have no impact whatsoever - the research is very clear on that".
Policy changes in the UK were also unlikely to have had a significant effect on recent application figures in Ireland.
However, there may be a small deflection for certain nationalities - such as South African and Zimbabwean - whereby instead of going to the UK, applicants come to Ireland.
"There's also a very small deflection effect from the UK following the Rwanda policy - but this is really small, and much smaller than there's been speculation about", Ms Murphy explained.
