Asylum seekers set up new camp in Phoenix Park following Charlemont clearance

A group of asylum seekers looking for a place to sleep have pitched their tents in Dublin’s Phoenix Park following the latest removal of migrant tents from the city centre.

Some sixteen tents had been erected in the city park on Friday afternoon. However, most of the occupants had left the park for the day to avail of the lunch service from the Lighthouse charity on Pearse street.

One man leaving the campsite said he had arrived in Dublin on Friday morning and pitched his tent in the park following advice from local volunteers. Others were reluctant to speak with The Irish Times, saying they needed to walk into the city centre to get food.

The campsite is more than five kilometres from the Lighthouse support services and lies six kilometres from the International Protection Office where asylum seekers were camping earlier this year.

On Wednesday, gardaí removed tents from Charlemont Place in South Dublin where around 60 international protection applicants were sleeping. Further metal barriers were erected at the site, adding to the kilometres of barriers which currently line the Grand Canal to prevent people from pitching tents. Waterways Ireland have said the barriers will remain in place until October.

The latest figures from the International Protection Accommodation Services show 2,353 asylum-seeking men are homeless and awaiting accommodation, up from 2,228 last week.

Asked to comment on the makeshift campsite in Phoenix Park, a spokeswoman for the Office of Public Works (OPW) said camping and overnight parking was “not permitted” in the park due to “health and safety concerns and potential damage to these fragile sites”.

She noted that while the park was open 24 hours a day, the majority of the park was unlit at night and thus unsafe.

The OPW is engaging with the Simon Community Outreach team, who are currently assisting the people concerned, she said, adding that gardaí were at the site. However, The Irish Times saw no gardaí during its visit to the campsite, only local volunteers.

The Department of Integration had no responded to a request for comment at time of writing.