The Schengen area is due to launch two new systems in the coming months: the Entry/Exit System (EES) November 10th and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) in the first half of 2025. Ireland being one of two European countries not a member of the Schengen area (Cyprus is the other), these moves will see us out of step with the rest of the continent.
Naturally, one is led to wonder whether these developments will make those inclined to head for Europe even more likely to opt for Ireland as a comparatively ‘soft-touch’ destination – that is, whether it is likely to be viewed as an even softer-touch destination that it already clearly is. An island at the westernmost edge of the continent is not the obvious destination for the EU’s highest per capita number of asylum applications, but so it has been in recent months.
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