In this study, we consider the effect on the upper irredundance number \(IR(G)\) of a graph \(G\) when an edge is added joining a pair of non-adjacent vertices of \(G\). We say that \(G\) is \(IR\)-insensitive if \(IR(G + e) = IR(G)\) for every edge \(e \in \overline{E}\). We characterize \(IR\)-insensitive bipartite graphs and give a constructive characterization of graphs \(G\) for which the addition of any edge decreases \(IR(G)\). We also demonstrate the existence of a wide class of graphs \(G\) containing a pair of non-adjacent vertices \(u,v\) such that \(IR(G + uv) > IR(G)\).