Asylum-seeker encampments: More barriers erected along Dublin’s Grand Canal in bid to deter tents

Hundreds of metres of barriers were erected along new stretches of the Grand Canal in Dublin on Friday in an apparent move to prevent homeless asylum seekers pitching tents.

The barriers, similar to those erected along the canal near Mount Street Lower following a multiagency operation to clear more than 100 homeless asylum seekers’ tents on Thursday morning, were being placed between Leeson Street and Baggot Street bridges.

A worker erecting the barriers said more would not be placed along other stretches which were “residential” but were being placed here as offices overlooking Wilton Terrace would be closed and unable to “police” the area over the weekend.

The move comes as more than 20 tents sheltering homeless asylum seekers were pitched along the Grand Canal on Friday, a few hundred metres from where 100-plus tents were cleared on Thursday.

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The homeless men are understood to include a number who have been in Dublin for several weeks. Several who were sitting by a nearby bridge were from Afghanistan and Palestine.

Several had been at the Grand Canal encampment but had missed the buses that transported men to Crooksling, southwest Dublin, and Dundrum during Thursday’s early-morning clearance of that area.

[ Grand Canal asylum seeker camp ‘dismantled’ with over 160 people taken to ‘robust’ tented accommodation ]

The tents were pitched at the Wilton Terrace area, between Baggot Street and Leeson Street in the south of Dublin’s city centre. It is understood they were erected with the help of local volunteers, mainly women living in Dublin 4.

The situation that arose on Mount Street, where an encampment remained for weeks and months, will not be allowed to happen again, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said.

During a visit to Fermoy, Co Cork, on Friday, he said: “We will not have a situation where these encampments are allowed to fester and go on for weeks and weeks and months and months, as was the case in Mount Street. That is not acceptable to me. But yes, issues will arise.

“Tents will appear and the Government will work with agencies on a multiagency approach – none of this siloed stuff – to resolve these issues.”

Promising a whole-of-Government approach, Mr Harris emphasised the need to be conscious of the fact there may be vulnerable people coming to our country seeking protection.

“They have a right to be allowed to go through that process and everybody should abide by the laws of the land in all circumstances.”

The 160 asylum seekers transferred from the Grand Canal were handed an information sheet during the 6am operation on Thursday and were told they do not have permission to stay beside the canal, that tents may be seized and asylum seekers may be prosecuted if they refuse to move from tented encampments.

Asked about the erection of more barriers, a spokesman for the Department of Children said: “There is serious concern for the health and safety of people staying in tents by the canal, and about the impact of the lack of sanitation facilities.

“Whilst temporary barriers have been erected as a mitigation measure, access to the towpath and footpath adjacent to the canal is unimpeded.”

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly on Friday told reporters the Government was “quite rightly” moving to address the issue of encampments as they arose.

“We can’t have a situation in the capital city or indeed in any city in the country where we have large tented encampments popping up,” he said.

[ 'We have no choice': 20 tents sheltering homeless asylum seekers pitched along the Grand Canal ]

He said it was not reasonable to expect the Government to deal with the situation without issues. “There is only so much that any one country can do in terms of the numbers coming in,” he said.

“Given the context of what’s happening internationally, I think Ireland and the Irish people have done well. And that is the situation we’re dealing with. I know that is frustrating for people around the country. I know it’s coming up regularly on the doors at the moment, but I think the Irish people understand. We are a welcoming country.”

The Department of Justice confirmed a total of 7,667 people had applied for international protection this year as of May 7th, an increase of more than 2,500 since the last official figures of 5,162 on March 31st.

A total of 30,027 people are being accommodated (up from 29,456 at the end of April) and a further 1,715 are awaiting an offer of State accommodation, according to the latest figures published on Friday by the Department of Children and Integration.

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