Another tent clearance is under way along the Grand Canal in Dublin after more than 100 tents were pitched along the waterway.
The encampment began on the evening of 9 May, when around 26 tents were pitched between McCartney Bridge and Leeson Street Bridge on the same day that other tents were cleared from elsewhere along the Grand Canal.
The encampment was mostly asylum seekers who have been given tents by agencies due to a lack of State accommodation.
Today’s operation, which is taking place on a section of the canal at Mespil Road, is the third coordinated clearance after tents were removed from around the International Protection Office on Mount Street at the start of the month.
“The reality is we can’t allow tents build up where there are no sanitation facilities, where there are no good health facilities,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said.
“So, we are trying to move that and clear that to a more sustainable, alternative accommodation. That’s taking a little time but that is the plan and that is what’s going to happen.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin last week said it is expected that Thornton Hall in north Co Dublin will be ready to accommodate asylum seekers in four to six weeks’ time.
The tents would be pitched in a part of the site that is already “serviced”. This includes toilets, sanitation facilities, along with kitchens and eating areas.
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