The longest-serving refugee appeals adjudicator, Mr Peter Finlay SC, has resigned, saying he could no longer serve in a system he did not believe in.
Mr Finlay's move comes weeks after he denounced as a "complete travesty" the entire asylum process and Government plans to fingerprint asylum-seekers over 14 years.
Last night Mr Finlay, one of eight Government-appointed lawyers on the Independent Appeals Authority, said he felt his position was no longer tenable.
He did not want to expand on his remarks, published last month in The Irish Times, when he said asylum-seekers' rights were being "trammelled" by the State.
He said: "I have resigned for the simple reason that in light of the comments I made, I believe that the only consistent thing for me to do is to resign. I don't think it's reasonable for me to have expressed the views I have and to remain. It would be unfair both to the system and to myself."
Asylum-seekers are immigrants seeking refugee status on the basis that they are fleeing persecution on grounds including race, religion or political opinion. The State is legally bound to protect such people while their case is being determined.
This process includes filling in a detailed questionnaire, followed by an interview with a Department of Justice official. If refugee status is then denied, the applicant can appeal to the authority. The process can take two years or more.
In his detailed criticisms of various stages of the process last month, Mr Finlay said the "fundamental rights" of asylum-seekers were not being observed. He was "alarmed" at some decisions taken in cases appealed to him.
"The legal standards applied to them [asylum-seekers] are lower than would be applied to Irish people and their fundamental rights are not observed by the asylum process," he said.
Mr Finlay called for an amnesty for asylum-seekers, instead of appointing more authority members to "number crunch" the backlog of more than 9,000 cases. He said efficient controls at ports and airports should be combined with an immigration authority entirely separate from the Department of Justice.
Mr Finlay, a practising barrister for 14 years, heard 400 cases in his 18 months as a part-time authority member. He was due to hear cases this week but instead sent his letter of resignation to the Minister for Justice yesterday. He will continue to work as barrister.
Mr Finlay said he had not been pressurised into making his decision, and was heartened by the support he received from colleagues as well as members of the clergy and the public following his comments.
While he would have liked to have seen some of his criticisms acted upon, he said it was "not right for me to sit in judgment on people who appoint me. I can't deliver an ultimatum. That would be wrong. I can only express my views and I've done that".
He said he did not believe in the system of asylum processing and the direction of policy in the area. "If it's not one I believe in, then it's not one I can serve in," he said.
It had been "a great privilege" to be asked to sit as an appeals authority for refugees and he had enjoyed the work. "I leave with some considerable regret and disappointment," Mr Finlay said. He added that he wished the Minister for Justice and his Department well "in their efforts to put in place a policy and system that would be fair and one we can be proud of as a country".
Politicians needed to show leadership in dealing with human issues such as asylum policy in a society experiencing economic prosperity, where the moral authority of the church was no longer primary, he added.
More than two thirds of the 511 immigrants granted refugee status last year succeeded on appeal to the authority, having been turned down at the first stage interview with a Department of Justice official.