Sixty migrants arrive at site earmarked for asylum-seekers in Newtownmountkennedy

The 60 international protection applicants were transported from Crooksling, Co Dublin, to the Co Wicklow site at River Lodge, also known as Trudder House, in Newtownmountkennedy last night.

The HSE-owned site has been the scene of numerous protests in recent weeks after locals opposed plans to house asylum-seekers there.

Six people were arrested and three garda cars were damaged during an incident last Thursday in which fires were lit and gardaí came under attack.

Four people appeared in court in relation to the events of last Thursday.

This comes as the government is still considering cutting social welfare rates for all Ukrainians who are here already.

Meanwhile, two people were arrested on Mount Street in Dublin this morning as the asylum-seeker encampment was removed from beside the city’s International Protection Office. It is understood one was arrested for a public disorder offence.

Up to 200 asylum-seekers who were moved from the so-called tent city this morning have been relocated to facilities at the Citywest hotel in Dublin and at the site in Crooksling.

Government sources said gardaí will be asked to ensure camps do not return to the city, as our photograph shows the interior of one of the tents designated as accommodation for the asylum-seekers in Crooksling.

New international protection applicants began arriving at the IPO after lunchtime today.

There were chaotic scenes as crowds rushed to board a bus taking applicants to accommodation in Swords, Co Dublin shortly after 5pm.

Scuffles broke out during the rush to get a seat on the bus, prompting gardaí to step in.

Exasperated staff from the IPO pleaded with the men to stop pushing in to the bus because the situation on the crowded pavement was becoming dangerous.

Those who did not make it on to the bus were directed back to a holding pen that has been erected outside the front door for the IPO.

The International Protection office on Mount Street closed at 6pm. As the staff closed the doors, a crowd of up to 50 men who had been waiting outside to be processed were turned away.

They were told there was no accommodation for the night, that the office was closed and they could come back in the morning.

Among them was 30-year-old Imran Nasir, who arrived in Ireland on March 27. Mr Nasir, who is seeking asylum, said he fled Afghanistan after being targeted by the Taliban.

He had been staying in ‘Tent city’ on Mount Street up until Tuesday night when he was accommodated by a someone who had a free couch for the night. When he returned to Mount street on Wednesday morning his tent had been removed and all his friends were gone.

“They were taken to Crooksling and Citywest,” he said.

“I want to go there too and I came today to queue for the bus but they have told me there is no accommodation tonight. My tent is gone so I will have to wander the streets. I might go to the park and sleep there.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the situation on Mount Street had become “completely unacceptable” as the encampment was dismantled this morning.

Mr Harris thanked the state agencies involved in the evacuation of the “tent city” as international protection applicants were moved to sites with sanitation facilities.

In a statement, he said: “The international protection applicants have been taken to safe shelter with appropriate sanitary facilities, hot food, a clean place to eat, access to medical help and a bus link to Dublin city centre.”

“The laws of our land must always be upheld and we cannot have unsafe and illegal encampments in our cities or towns,” he added.

The multi-agency operation began shortly before 6.30am, with Mount Street closed to all traffic and cyclists, with barriers at both ends of the street blocking all vehicular access.

Gardaí and members of Dublin City Council were present at the scene, and removal equipment and several coaches were already stationed by the tents by 6.30am.

Officials could be seen with clipboards, taking note of people’s details as they organised the relocation.

Shortly before 8am, more than 200 asylum-seekers boarded coaches to leave the area.

The coaches left the area at 8.10am this morning, accompanied by a garda escort.

Integration minister Roderic O’Gorman said that most of the 200 asylum-seekers have been accommodated either at the reception centre at Citywest or in a previously used site at Crooksling.

“The accommodation provided at Crooksling is tented accommodation in military-style tents. That is not the type of accommodation we were using on St Patrick’s Day there.

“It was much smaller and much more basic accommodation at that stage. There are large eight-person tents, meals provided, sanitary facilities, showers, toilets, all provided at the site,” he said on RTÉ’s News at One.

Mr O’Gorman said the site at Crooksling is beside a Dublin Bus route, providing a transport link to the city centre.

A government statement issued this morning said the Crooksling site has “robust, weather-proof tents” and shower facilities.

“It 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,” the statement said.

“While in Crooksling accommodation, residents will receive the same supports as at other locations. This includes access to medical care via the HSE social inclusion outreach teams and medical card provision; Ipas customer services team clinics; onsite support from the provider’s staff; and psycho-social and integration support from NGO partners.

“The encampment at Mount Street has been dismantled and the streets are being cleaned by Dublin City Council.”

Mr O’Gorman confirmed that asylum-seekers have been moved into the site at Newtownmountkennedy at which there were multiple arrests and scenes of unrest and fires last week.

He said: “People are entitled to protests and to disagree with government policy but that has to be done within the law.

“As we know in the scenes in Trudder, certainly a number of those protestors stepped well beyond the law in terms of their attacks on An Garda Síochána,” he said.

Micheál Martin

Tánaiste Micheál Martin also said it was “not acceptable” to have tents on Mount Street, and added that the State will make sure tents do not go back up.

“Tents on Mount Street are not acceptable. Not acceptable for migrants, not acceptable for residents either and it’s very important that we do this properly,” he said.

“Our view is that it is not acceptable that there are tents on Mount Street. We discourage that very strongly.”

He said the State has powers to make sure tents do not go back up.

“The State has within its powers the capacity to make sure that we don’t have tents back up on Mount Street,” he said.

“The Government is very clear – we cannot have tents on streets adjacent [to Mount Street].

“It’s not good for those seeking asylum, it’s not good for residents in the area, it creates a lot of tensions and so on.”

Mr Martin said the facilities the asylum-seekers are being brought to are “far better” and there is “no comparison” between the set-up there and at Mount Street.

He said migrants will have access to Dublin city centre from Crooksling, as well as waterproof tents.

However, he admitted that the situation is “not ideal”.

The Tánaiste said there is a “lot of noise” around the UK’s imminent move to start shipping asylum applicants for processing in Rwanda, which he last week said was behind the high numbers of international protection applicants coming to the Republic from across the border with Northern Ireland.

“I’ve been listening to Rwanda now for three years. We’re now talking about one person going there [yesterday],” he said.

“Brexit was meant to control migration in the UK. It didn’t control migration in the UK, numbers have gone up exponentially.

“As far as we’re concerned, we have to have firm procedures in Ireland.”

‘Public health issue’

Speaking this morning, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke said the tent city had become a “public health issue”.

“It is important as we have a public safety issue in terms of very vulnerable people on Mount Street. It was a public health issue for them and for residents and businesses,” he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland.

He said he welcomed that those vulnerable people are being cared for and moved on, stressing that it is “so important”.

“We are dealing with human beings,” Mr Burke added.

When asked if some will be living in tents once they are moved, he said: “Some may be, but I haven’t full clarity at this time.”

The first tents were pitched on Mount Street in March of last year and the number grew for six months before the area was briefly cleared. They have been present continually since last December until they were cleared ahead of St Patrick's Day, but returned again soon after.

The operation this morning came amid increasing anger over Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s management of the migration crisis, with her cabinet colleagues growing frustrated with her performance.

Residents and business owners of Mount Street calling for immediate action on 'Tent City' surrounding the International Protection Office

The tents at Mount Street were previously cleared just before St Patrick’s Day, when asylum-seekers were taken to the site in Crooksling in the Dublin mountains. However, many returned, with tents appearing back at the site later that day.

Yesterday, residents and businesses in the Mount Street area said they were threatening legal action over the expanding migrant ‘tent city’.

Ruth and Chris Hamilton, who have run the Mamma Mia Italian restaurant on Grattan Street for nearly 15 years, said they would be forced to close if the situation was not resolved.

“With the current situation for the last 14 months, it’s just horrific for our business,” Ms Hamilton said.

“Our profit is down over 60pc and our customers are nervous coming in to us, our staff are very nervous and we have to come up in the evening and help them lock up.

“It’s just not feasible to keep going at this rate and unfortunately if things don’t change, we’re going to have to close in August.”

Residents and businesses in Mount Street, Madison Court, Grattan Court, Grattan Court East, Grattan Hall, Power’s Court, the South Georgian Residents’ Association and Verschoyle Court had formed a network.

Rwanda

It came as the first migrants set to be deported to Rwanda from the UK have been detained.

Britain’s Home Office said a series of operations took place across the country this week, with more activity due to be carried out in the coming weeks.

Officials have not yet said how many people have been detained, or where they were taken into custody.

It comes ahead of the British government’s bid to get flights to send migrants to the east African nation off the ground by July, after the Safety of Rwanda Act became law last week.

Home secretary James Cleverly said: “Our Rwanda partnership is a pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal migration, and we have worked tirelessly to introduce new, robust legislation to deliver it.

“Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground.

“This is a complex piece of work, but we remain absolutely committed to operationalising the policy, to stop the boats and break the business model of people smuggling gangs.”

Legislation

Ms McEntee received Cabinet approval yesterday to draft legislation, meaning the process of preparing new laws to designate the UK as a safe country – allowing asylum-seekers to be transferred back there – is only in its beginning stages and the laws are some way off being brought before the Dáil.

There is rising frustration within the Government over Ms McEntee’s performance, after she flagged the need for legislation to fix a loophole from an Irish High Court ruling which prevented Ireland sending asylum-seekers back to the UK. The Government has to designate the UK a safe country to resume sending migrants back but already had an agreement with the UK that was negotiated during Brexit talks.

However, no migrants have been deported through the mechanism, which the UK said is not legally binding.

One cabinet minister said: “This legislation is being completely overplayed and isn’t going to be some great fix for the current immigration problem.

“Every week there is another memo on immigration but what are they achieving? You can put in place all the policies you like but if you don’t have the right people implementing the current policies, what’s the point?”

Before Brexit, Ireland and the UK participated in the Dublin III Regulation, which saw Ireland return a total of 162 people to the UK between 2015 and 2020 and the UK return 154 people to Ireland, according to the Department of Justice.