Up to 30 more tents pitched on Grand Canal in Dublin
On After Fencing Removed Being Erected Photos Sam Picture: Canal Boal/collins Were Tents Grand
Up to 30 more tents have been pitched on the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin on Friday morning.
It comes as more than 160 migrants were moved from a makeshift encampment in the area as part of a multi-agency operation on Thursday morning.
Some 163 people were moved to Crooklsling and the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum - 148 to Crooksling and 15 to Dundrum.
The area around the Grand Canal was sealed off as well as Mount Street, with the Taoiseach Simon Harris saying that any future tents set up in those areas would be dismantled.
Mr Harris was unable to say how long the areas would be sealed off and added that it would depend on the views of both the gardaí and Dublin City Council.
However, on Friday some 27 tents were pitched along the banks of the Grand Canal, between the McCartney Bridge and the Leeson Street Bridge — just upstream from where the tents were removed on Thursday.
National Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Ireland, Eugene Quinn, said it is inevitable that some people will end up on the streets.
"Look at the numbers since that policy to not offer accommodation to single males seeking asylum in Ireland," Mr Quinn said.
"Starting in December, 3,000 haven't been offered accommodation. About 1,200 were subsequently offered. So there's 1,800 [without accommodation].
"I think the rough rule of thumb I'd have is about one in six end up on the street, so about 500 have been straight homeless and moved from tents into accommodation."
State-owned sites previously ruled out for asylum accommodation are to be reassessed as the Government struggles to deal with record numbers of people arriving here.
Defence Forces and HSE lands are understood to be among the sites that will be re-examined after the Government admitted that further tent encampments could emerge across parts of Dublin city centre as the State currently cannot offer accommodation to all asylum seekers arriving here.
Record numbers of asylum seekers arrived in Ireland last week, with more than 600 new arrivals seeking protection. It is understood that the numbers are similar this week, with around 130 people arriving each day.