At Dundalk train station the Enterprise express service from Belfast to Dublin is on time. Gardaí in full uniform and wearing bright yellow fluorescent jackets with "immigration" in bold letters are on the platform.
When the train stops Sgt Gerry Connor presses the button to open the automatic door.
"I am a garda and this is a Garda immigration passport control check; please have your documents ready for inspection," he announces to passengers.
"Where are you from?" he asks and gets various replies from Galway, Belfast and Dundalk to the Netherlands.
In the third carriage he asks two men for their documents and is handed some sheets of paper. "What nationality are you?" he asks one man. He appears not to understand. "Where are you from?" he repeats. "The Sudan," he replies.
Do they have passports? "No." The second man who carries a letter from the Home Office which says he has been refused asylum in the UK says he is seeking asylum.
The gardaí tell them they are required to have a passport to enter Ireland. They say they want time to check their documents and ask them to come off the train.
The men take their luggage. The man seeking asylum walks with a limp and uses a cane.
As they walk up the platform the other man says he has never met him before although they were travelling together. The rest of the passengers look out the window somewhat bemused and the train pulls out.
Next stop Connolly Station, but without two passengers who began their journey far away from Belfast.