Migration row: 'The Irish state demanded an open border - now they can live with the consequences'

All of this comes after the Irish justice minister announced last week, when asked about the origin of asylum seekers in the Republic, that “a significant proportion of people are coming through the border now … I would say higher than 80%”.

Rishi Sunak said this is evidence that his Rwanda plan is having a “deterrent” effect; that is, his policy of deporting a small minority of those who arrive illegally to the UK and then claim asylum to the east African nation, with no right to come back to the UK again.

The Irish government has freed up some 100 gardai to help with deportations, with reports that a number of them are being redeployed to the border.

The Irish government’s 80% claim which kicked off this whole row is hotly disputed, with the DUP’s Ian Paisley saying the figure was “made up” as a way of blaming “the bad old Brits” for Dublin’s own mismanagement of immigration.

Speaking about the taoiseach’s pending visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Wilson said: “He’s coming up because it gives him a platform to continue this whingeing about illegals going into the south – that’s exactly what he’s doing.

“And he’ll seek to recruit voices from the assembly, and no doubt he’ll get voices from the assembly. To me, it’s a well-timed visit to put pressure on a spineless secretary of state and spineless Home Office.

“The message [to him] should simply be: look, you wanted an open border, you insisted an open border was essential for peace, for the Belfast Agreement, for good relations between Ireland and the UK – and you live with the consequences of the open border.

“You can’t have the benefits of an open border without the downsides.”