By Cillian Sherlock, PA
A total of 163 people have been moved to State-provided accommodation following the dismantling of a makeshift migrant camp along Dublin's Grand Canal.
Taoiseach Simon Harris described the multi-agency operation as a “Team Ireland” response.
More than 100 tents had been erected along the Grand Canal as the Government continues to fail to provide accommodation to all male asylum seekers.
The multi-agency operation to clear the tents began at approximately 6.30am on Thursday.
By approximately 8am, all the tents had been removed using a truck with a crane arm.
The asylum seekers who had been living in the makeshift encampment were told it was an offence to stay on the canal and that they would be taken by bus to official accommodation.
Many of the men lined up for the buses while their tents were marked before being disposed of for “health and safety reasons”.
Fifteen of the international-protection applicants were moved to the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, while 163 were accommodated at the Crooksling site.
The Government said both sites have robust, weather-proof tents and other services including toilets, showers and 24-hour onsite security.
Volunteers and a Safetynet mobile health unit also assisted the operation.
Fences were erected around the stretch of the Grand Canal where the tents had been pitched to prevent another encampment.
The encampment on the waterway emerged shortly after more than 200 asylum seekers were cleared from a similar makeshift camp at the nearby International Protection Office in Mount Street last week.
The Government said Thursday morning’s operation involved An Garda Síochána, Dublin City Council, the HSE, the Departments of Integration and Justice as well as a waterway authority.
Speaking at a press conference a short time after the operation, Mr Harris thanked the agencies involved in both operations.
He said: “It was not acceptable to me or to Government that there would be any source of tacit acceptance that what was happening at Mount Street was just okay, because it never was.
“And it became very close – and closer than many people may even realise – to becoming a real public health emergency.”
He said he had “no doubt” other issues would arise in future but added that the multi-agency response would continue.
“The days of people saying, ‘that’s not my issue, that’s for that department, that’s for that agency’ – I don’t want to hear it.
“This is Government. This is Ireland. This is Team Ireland.”
Mr Harris said there would be a continued “comprehensive response” to the refugee accommodation crisis.
He said there would not be a situation where another camp would be allowed to stay for weeks or months, adding: “Those days are gone. Those days are over. That’s not gonna happen and the Government is absolutely united in relation to this.”
Asked if the Government would continue to block off public spaces with fences, Mr Harris said: “The multi agency response involves a number of different actions happening.
“It doesn’t involve the long-term erection of barriering off parts of our city, but in the short term that can be a requirement.”
He would not define what he considered to be “short term” but said he would not expect it to be months.
Noting there was a “range of public order offences” that applied to the encampment, Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman said An Garda Síochána took a “humane approach” to the encampment given that the asylum seekers had not yet received an offer of accommodation.
A statement from the Government said: “The purpose of the operation is to ensure the safe movement of people seeking international protection from the tents on the Grand Canal to International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS)-designated accommodation.”
The site was later cleaned by Waterways Ireland.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who is a TD for the area, said she hopes the alternative accommodation is “appropriate and secure”.
“I have been calling on the Taoiseach to address this situation. It’s clearly inhumane and unsustainable to see individuals with no option but to sleep in tents with no sanitation facilities, no security,” she said.
“I am glad to see alternative accommodation has been made and we will be pressing the Government to ensure that it is safe and secure accommodation.
“I want to commend all the local residents and volunteers who gave such support to the individuals here. It was a very calm presence along the canal.
“It couldn’t have been allowed to continue because it was inhumane to the individuals.”
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