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Inside the early morning operation to move asylum seekers from Mount Street encampment

Government had become increasingly concerned that the area - described by Taoiseach Simon Harris as a ‘makeshift shantytown’ - was expanding rapidly

The operation was carried out by the Department of Integration, the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

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Jennifer Bray
Wed May 1 2024 - 17:00

At 5.30am on Wednesday morning, Government officials gathered in what has been described as a “control room” in the city centre to kick-start a plan to relocate more than 200 male asylum seekers from Mount Street to Citywest and Crooksling in southwest Dublin.

The decision to move the asylum seekers had been taken at a meeting last Thursday, which was convened by Taoiseach Simon Harris and attended by other Ministers, senior officers from An Garda Síochána and officials from Dublin City Council.

“The Taoiseach was emphatic that this issue needed to be addressed, that the situation could not continue. It was the first time that everyone had been brought together like that,” one Government source said. A second Coalition source agreed: “That meeting was certainly the catalyst for action to be taken.”

Harris and his officials were becoming increasingly concerned that the tented encampment – which the Taoiseach later referred to as a “makeshift shantytown” – was expanding rapidly and was reaching up to the steps of the European Parliament offices.

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While they were keen to move quickly, a huge amount of planning had to be done first. There was also considerable anxiety about potentially botching the operation in front of the public and media by creating a rushed or confrontational environment.

“We looked at this as a humanitarian mission or effort. These are human beings we are talking about here. The situation was becoming unsafe and unsanitary for those in the tents and for local residents. But officials had to consider a huge amount of different issues before a decision could be made to move,” a Government source said on Wednesday, hours after the move took place.

“A few different dates were looked at and different times were considered. Even issues such as the weather had to considered so that it wasn’t an extremely unpleasant experience for those being moved.

“We had to make sure there was medical assistance available in case anyone became unwell, we had to make sure the transport was available, and the facilities in Crooksling were ready: things like hot food, a place for the men to charge their devices, a place to wash, sleeping facilities, security for when they are sleeping.”

Security guards outside the Crooksling site were masked, in a sign of how fraught the situation has become after recent protests outside sites marked for asylum seekers.

It was decided over the weekend that Wednesday would be the day for the move, and from that point onwards daily meetings were held between Government officials to make sure everything was in place. A control room was set up where officials were tasked with acting as point of contacts to liaise with gardaí, translators, transport operators and also teams tasked with clearing away the site.

Initially, the Government believed the “humanitarian mission” was a success, but by Wednesday afternoon reports were coming back that, once again, some of the men were looking to leave Crooksling and return to the city centre.

In total, 268 single male applicants were offered accommodation at International Protection Accommodation Services sites at Crooksling and Citywest, with 138 applicants offered accommodation at Citywest and a further 130 offered accommodation at Crooksling.

A group of people who claimed to have arrived at the Crooksling accommodation on Wednesday morning board a bus into the city centre the same afternoon. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

The tents outside Mount Street first appeared after the Department of Integration ran out of accommodation last December, and intensive efforts are now under way to ensure there is adequate accommodation for any new arrivals into the city centre. This will be key to stopping further tented sites appearing in the city centre.

The Department of Integration has also now put out a tender seeking sites from property owners, private developers and building contractors. In tandem with this, there has been a steady flow of Ukrainian refugees leaving State accommodation, which has provided a modicum of breathing room. The situation is far from resolved, however, as officials cannot rule out a situation whereby the department runs out of accommodation yet again.

In the meantime, asylum seekers who attempt to return to Mount Street may find themselves facing garda patrols, fences and even potted plants. Speaking about this prospect, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said: “I can’t rule out that in any given night, in any given day that people who are in difficult circumstances might erect a tent.

“But what I am very confident in is that our State agencies will take all the steps that are needed to try to prevent something of this scale occurring again.”

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