The Department of Justice has released figures showing the number of applications for asylum in Ireland fell by almost a third last year.
The number of asylum applications last year fell by 32 per cent to 7,939, compared with 11,634 in 2002. Since October there has been a drop of 62 per cent or 1,984 from 3,222 to 1,238 for the same period in 2002.
One of the main reasons for the significant downturn is thought to be last January's Supreme Court ruling that parents of Irish-born children were not automatically entitled to refugee status.
The crackdown against illegal immigrants will be stepped up even further this year. Extra resources are expected to be established in border areas where asylum seekers enter the Republic from the UK, and at ports in Cork.
Irish Refugee Council spokesman Mr Peter O'Mahony said the figures were not surprising.
"The Government has been consistently trying to force the numbers down and is obviously having some success," he said. "Aside from the Supreme Court ruling, the other factor which must be acknowledged is the substantial number of people refused entry to the country last year, which was around 4,500.
"We believe that many of those would have tried to process asylum claims had they been allowed into Ireland." He said that the figure reflected an international trend.
Almost 600 failed asylum seekers were deported last year while another 780 left the Republic voluntarily. Nigeria accounts for 39 per cent of asylum claims - the highest number of Nigerian applications in Europe.