The images of rows of blue tents springing up in central Dublin in recent weeks say more than any statistics can about the questions facing the Irish government over migration.
An increase in people seeking asylum, combined with well-documented shortages of accommodation in the capital, have combined to put the issue at the very top of the political agenda in the run-up to local and European elections.
Justice minister Helen McEntee has claimed the large majority of those arriving in the state are now coming from the UK via the porous Irish border.
Latest figures state that from January 1 to May 7 this year, there were 7,668 applications for international protection, of which just over 7,000 (91%) were made at the processing office in Dublin rather than ports of entry.
While there are circumstances where someone might go directly to the International Protection Office without registering with immigration officials at a port or airport, the government has said its firm assessment is that in most cases, those arriving have crossed the land border.
It may suit the new taoiseach, Simon Harris, to place some blame at the door of Britain. Ministers in Dublin are attempting to sound increasingly tough on migration, with the latest pronouncement being that payments to asylum seekers will be reviewed as the government adopts a “firmer system”.
After all the talk during Brexit negotiations of the importance of maintaining an open border, a poll last week that showed significant support for cross-border checks to deter migrants will not have been lost on any political party.
It most certainly suits Rishi Sunak, fresh from a pounding at the polls, to attempt to shift one of his biggest headaches onto Ireland.
A government that has sunk so low that it will fly asylum seekers fleeing persecution to a country that its own courts have deemed unsafe is unlikely to be worried if many instead walk across an open border into the Republic.
But amid all the politics, it cannot be forgotten that real people, in desperate circumstances, are at the centre of this increasingly shrill debate.
It was shocking to hear the founder of a homeless charity say he has received threats to burn down its premises over help being given to asylum seekers
It was shocking at the weekend to hear the founder of a homeless charity say he has received personal threats as well as threats to burn down its premises over help being given to asylum seekers.
Ultimately a political solution involving Dublin, London and Brussels will be needed to manage a problem that speaks to global phenomena such as climate change as well as individual governments’ moral and legal responsibilities as a members of a global community.
With major elections on the horizon in Ireland and Britain, and anti-migrant voices gaining influence across Europe, the immediate prospects for progress do not look promising.
