Operation to remove migrant camp from Dublin Grand Canal under way

Tents which have been pitched by asylum seekers along a stretch of the Grand Canal in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

A multi-agency operation is under way to remove asylum seekers and tents from a makeshift encampment along Dublin’s Grand Canal.

More than 100 tents had been erected along the waterway as the Irish Government continues to fail to provide accommodation to all male asylum seekers.

The Grand Canal encampment emerged shortly after more than 200 asylum seekers were cleared from a similar makeshift camp at the nearby International Protection Office on Mount Street last week.

The Irish Government said Thursday morning’s operation involves the Irish police service, Dublin City Council, the national health service, the Department of Integration and a waterway authority.

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 IPAS-designated accommodation has toilets and showers; health services; indoor areas where food is provided; facilities to charge phones and personal devices; access to transport to and from Dublin City Centre; and 24-hour onsite security.”

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Irish premier Simon Harris said the similar operation last week had a “very positive impact” and averted a “public health near-emergency”.

He said: “I continue to believe that it was the right action to take. I became Taoiseach four weeks ago, I took charge of this situation.

“There had been, in my view, a tacit acceptance by many State agencies that the situation on Mount Street could just continue and was just the new norm. That was not right.”

He added: “We will deal with the Grand Canal. Action will be taken.”