Migrants in fear of being sent to Rwanda are fleeing the UK for Ireland, the country's foreign minister said.
Former taoiseach Micheal Martin said: "I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland and that didn't happen today or yesterday. It's been growing since the first iteration and publication of that strategy.
"They're leaving the UK and they are taking opportunities to come to Ireland, crossing the border to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda."
Dublin has said 80 per cent of recent asylum seekers in the country had arrived across the land border with Northern Ireland.
More than 140,000 immigrants arrived in Ireland in the year up to last April - a 16-year high.
Meanwhile, Downing Street and senior UK politicians hit back at Emmanuel Macron after the French president criticised sending migrants to a third country where they did not come from as a betrayal of values.
Mr Macron's sideswipe at Rishi Sunak's Rwanda policy came as the Prime Minister’s landmark Bill was made law.
In a speech on Europe's future, Mr Macron said the deportations would "create a geopolitics of cynicism that is a betrayal of our values".
No10 replied: "Our approach is the right one. We've seen other countries explore similar options."
Home Secretary James Cleverly said "lazy criticism" of the Rwanda scheme was "distasteful". He visited the Italian port of Lampedusa on Wednesday to see how authorities there dealt with migrant arrivals.
Former home secretary, Dame Priti Patel, said: "President Macron is clearly worried that our partnership with Rwanda will mean that fewer migrants will attempt to cross the Channel and he will need to takeresponsibility for dealing with their asylum applications and the criminal gangs that are running rife in France."
