More than 9,000 non-EU nationals were refused entry to Ireland last year, figures show.
The amount of refusals in 2022 was the highest amount by Irish immigration authorities over the last 15 years.
The data which was published by the European Commission revealed 9,240 non-EU nationals were refused entry last year - which is 6.6% of all refusals at borders across Europe.
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The number of refusals was the fourth highest in Europe compared with other countries.
Those from Georgia were refused most by Irish authorities when 1,685 were denied entry. The next country which received the highest number of refusals was Somalia with 1,045 and Zimbabwe with 610.
The data shows an estimated 85% of all non-EU citizens returned home from Ireland on a voluntary basis.
Only countries such as Croatia, Hungary and Poland refused more people last year than Ireland after they beefed up their immigration controls over the last three years.
One of the main reasons people were refused entry included problems with their visa or residence permit - another was down to the purpose and conditions of their stay not being justified.
During the same period, Ireland recorded the smallest number of non-EU deportations.
Out of the 27 EU member states, Ireland also had one of the smallest amount of foreign nationals living here illegally.
Overall across Europe, Ukrainians were rejected more than any other nationality. Nearly 30,000 were denied entry in total with the majority being refused at land borders in Poland and Hungary.
Albanians and Russians was the next nationality which racked up the highest number of refusals with 15,630 and 10,860 respectively.
Last year, figures show there were 605 non-EU nationals who were living here illegally which was the second lowest across the bloc.
Brazilians made up the majority of this figure with 180, followed by Pakistan with 110, India with 45, China with 35 and Nigeria with 30.
In total, more than 1.08 million people were illegally living across the 27 EU member states in 2022 - a 59% increase on levels in 2021.
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