NOT quite a flood, but no longer a trickle; the dramatic increase in asylum seekers coming to Ireland is a direct result of this country's new found status as a high profile successful economy. Refugees are responding to the same positive images projected at tourists and industrialists.

Yet the scale of the increase is astonishing, and threatens to overwhelm the modest resources allocated to deal with asylum seekers. There were 39 applications for asylum in 1992, 362 in 1994 and 1,179 last year. Already in the first three months of this year there have been 677 applications.

The trend has set alarm bells off in the Department of Justice, which has told the Garda to increase port surveillance. In the first two weeks of this month alone, there were 166 applications - equivalent to the totals for the whole of 1991, 1992 and 1993 combined.

The backlog of cases is also rising. At present almost 2,000 refugees from more than 60 countries - await a decision in their cases. All of them exist in a legal limbo, living in temporary accommodation and prevented from working or studying.

These figures do not include illegal immigrants who have not come to the notice of the authorities, the 600 Bosnians who have arrived on a government assisted programme in recent years, or the 560 Vietnamese refugees who came after 1979.

The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Ms Joan Burton, says she is "very worried" that unscrupulous agents are targeting Ireland as an easy country to smuggle asylum seekers into, now that the UK and France have tightened regulations. She believes "a fair number" are arriving in the country hidden in lorries.

"Up to now we have been fairly relaxed in our approach and generous in our provision," she says. "Now that the economy is doing well, and we have a high profile boom, we have become more attractive to come to.

Another reason Ireland has become a popular destination for refugees, according to the director of the Irish Refugee Council, Ms Nadette Foley, is our image as a country concerned about human rights, one largely created by the President, Mrs Robinson. "We're seen as a desirable place to come to flee persecution."

But Ms Foley says the rising numbers show only that, compared to other European countries, Ireland has not been taking its fair share of refugees up to now. "We should think of it as our responsibility to protect human rights and prevent persecution in this way." Of 13 million refugees in the world, 90 per cent are outside Europe, she says.

Asylum seekers qualify for supplementary welfare allowance, worth about £60 a week, and a rent allowance of up to £30. At present, there are about 1,700 claimants.

Dublin and the Shannon Ennis region are the two main entry points for new arrivals. It used to be that refugees turned up first at the offices of immigration officers at ports and airports. However, in Dublin most asylum seekers now make their first appearance at the door of the Irish Refugee Council in Arran Quay, having passed unnoticed into the State. The council helps them find accommodation, then directs the applicants to the Department of Justice in St Stephen's Green.

It takes two or three months to set up a preliminary interview with the Department, and up to three years to process a case. But as the Minister points out, extra resources have been provided to speed the process and a new independent commissioner to examine asylum applications should be appointed soon. Already, three times as many cases have been decided in the first three months of this year as in the whole of 1996.

Ms Burton says the feedback on Romanian refugees, some of whom have come to the attention of the Garda, is "extremely worrying". "While there have been cases of police brutality in Romania, it can't be said that there is political, oppression in the country.

However, Ms Foley says a number of groups in Romania face persecution, including Roma (gypsies), ethnic Hungarians and political dissidents. Romanians account for about one third of asylum seekers, followed by Zaireans, who account for one quarter of applications. The next largest groups come from Somalia, Algeria and Nigeria.