Expectations of move to improved accommodation fuelling increase in asylum seeker tents on Grand Canal

Asylum seekers pitched tonight along the Grand Canal in Dublin.

Expectations that asylum seekers could be moved from tents to more permanent accommodation may be leading to an influx of tents along the Grand Canal, multiple Government sources have told the Irish Mirror.

It comes as the Dáil heard suggestions on Wednesday that people who voluntarily leave tented accommodation will be given higher daily allowances.

It is understood that people sleeping in tents along the canal could be moved in the coming days. It follows the cross-Government operation to move asylum seekers in tents who had set up camp outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street last week.

Taoiseach Simon Harris told the Dáil on Wednesday: “We will deal with the Grand Canal. Action will be taken.”

It was reported on Wednesday that asylum seekers in both Crooksling and Citywest had been told they would be moved to alternative accommodation on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Irish Mirror understands that this is in anticipation of moving people from tents on the Grand Canal. Details of future moves or operations were being kept under wraps on Wednesday night.

The number of tents along the canal increased to over 100 on Wednesday. Government sources told the Irish Mirror that there was a belief that some asylum seekers were setting up there in hopes they may be given accommodation if the tents are cleared and people are moved like they were on Mount Street.

Multiple Government sources told the Irish Mirror that in the days before the Mount Street operation, asylum seekers heard rumours of the plan to move people to more permanent accommodation and further tents were set up.

It is now thought that this is happening on the Grand Canal amid suggestions there will be another operation to move people on. One source pointed out that there are still 1,700 asylum seekers who have not been provided accommodation by the State and it was not a case that these people were not entitled to be moved.

In the Dáil, Labour leader Ivana Bacik suggested that a notice had been put up at the International Protection Office at Mount Street “advising those who are now in tented accommodation that they can have an increased daily expense allowance if they leave that tented accommodation”.

Those without accommodation are currently being offered an extra €75 to bring their weekly allowance from €38.80 to €113.80. It has been suggested that people who leave IPAS tented accommodation “voluntarily” will be eligible for the increased allowance. The Department of Integration did not respond to queries about Ms Bacik’s suggestions on Wednesday night.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin, meanwhile, said that the tents at Grand Canal are “not acceptable” and “there is a plan” to address the issues.

Elsewhere, new figures have shown that 5,774 people were refused leave to land at Dublin Airport between April 2023 and March 2024. Figures released to Justice Media Helen McEntee to People Before Profit’s Brid Smith showed that this included 541 Somalian people, 473 Georgian people and 452 Albanian people.

A person can be refused leave to land for several reasons, including if they are not in a position to support themselves and any accompanying dependants, if they intend to work but do not have a valid employment permit or if they are the subject of a deportation order or exclusion order.

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