Fears about “a breakdown in social cohesion” are prompting the Government to seek to reduce the number of people coming to Ireland to seek asylum, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said. Mr O’Callaghan also signalled likely future reductions in the number of foreign students permitted to come to Ireland to learn English. Jim O'Callaghan: We made a bad decision on the presidency Listen | 48:13“But I have to be frank about it as well. Like, it’s a fine aspiration to say ... we can welcome into Ireland everyone who wants to claim asylum. He said his department’s calculation is that about 87 per cent of people who come to Ireland to seek asylum arrived across the Border with Northern Ireland.

Source: The Irish Times December 16, 2025 13:56 UTC