This morning, gardai removed a group of asylum seekers who had camped in about 40 tents on Merrion Square, across from Government Buildings. The men set up the tents last night, but around 9 am, gardai arrived and asked them to leave, directing them to the International Protection Office on Mount Street.
As the men departed, or when tents were found unoccupied, gardai turned the tents on their sides. The asylum seekers took their belongings but left most of the tents behind.
This operation follows a similar one yesterday at the Grand Canal’s Leeson Street Bridge lock, where a similar number of tents had been pitched the previous night. Additionally, on Wednesday, over 40 tents were cleared from the city side of Leeson Street Bridge.
Volunteers assisting the migrant men reported that many of them have been moved multiple times in recent days. The repeated relocations highlight the ongoing challenges faced by asylum seekers in finding stable and safe places to stay.