Historical and legal framework in Ireland


 * In the 1996 Refugee Act Ireland provided itself with a comprehensive legal framework to deal with the refugee issue for the first time.
 * Prior to 1996, only the Aliens Act 1935 governed conditions of people coming into Ireland. This act did not differentiate between refugees and immigrants.
 * The first concentrated effort at refugee protection was when Ireland signed the 1951 UN convention relating to the to the Status of Refugees in 1956,later called the  1967  Protocol
 * This defined a refugee, as well as the states obligation towards towards refugee.
 * However the convention was not incorporated into Irish Law until much later.
 * From 1985 to 1986 ,the legislation wad based on the Von Armin Letter that delineated a 10 point internal administrative procedure after constant demands from the UNHCR as to the structure of Ireland's asylum procedure.
 * The Refugee Act 1996. Clink for a full view of the Act   It provided for the first time the incorporation of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol into domestic law. It also ensured the incorporation of the Dublin convention, outlining criteria for deciding which EU State is responsible for processing the asylum application.