The unfolding row between the British and Irish governments over refugees probably suits both parties more than either would ever care to admit.

For Rishi Sunak, Dublin’s claim that the Rwanda scheme has led to a surge of people illegally crossing into the Republic from Northern Ireland is welcome evidence that his flagship policy for combating Channel crossings is having the promised deterrent effect.

Meanwhile, Simon Harris, the new taoiseach, can’t be entirely heartbroken at the opportunity to try and deflect some of the mounting public anger about immigration towards the United Kingdom.

The Irish Government’s latest push to look tough on immigration has most recently seen it clear a so-called tent city that had grown up in the centre of Dublin over the past 14 months. It has started using similar tactics to London too, including passing legislation to overrule a High Court judgment and declare another country (in this case, Britain) safe for the purposes of refugee returns.

Dublin is also deploying 100 Gardaí (police officers) to toughen up the land border with Northern Ireland, although it says they won’t be........

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