London And Dublin Insist Rwanda Row is A "Storm In A Teacup"

A row between the UK Government and the Republic of Ireland over illegal migration has been dismissed as being "blown out of proportion" by diplomatic sources both sides of the Irish Sea.

This weekend reports emerged indicating tension between the two sides over Rishi Sunak's Rwanda policy and the claim from Dublin that it has driven a spike in asylum seekers entering the Republic of Ireland via its open border with Northern Ireland.  A pre-arranged bilateral meeting between Helen McEntee, the justice minister in Dublin, and Home Secretary James Cleverly that was pencilled in for Monday was subsequently postponed — fuelling suggestions that there was growing tension between the two sides.

But figures in London and Dublin are keen to "take the heat and hysteria" out of the situation, which some believe is being played to the political advantage of both parties. 

A Government source told PoliticsHome that the meeting between the two ministers would be re-arranged, and stressed that it was not unusual for meetings to be postponed.

A Whitehall official described the row as a "storm in a teacup", and said that elements on both sides had an interest in talking up the row for political purposes. "It’s just been blown out of proportion and it’s being used by both sides to seem tough," they told PoliticsHome.

Sunak, who has made stopping small boat crossings a key promise to voters, faces the prospect of significant Tory party losses at local and mayoral elections being held on Thursday, while opinion polls continue to suggest that the Conservatives are very likely to lose the next general election to Keir Starmer's Labour Party. Newly appointed Taoiseach Simon Harris, meanwhile, has local elections of his own to think about in June,