In the early hours of Wednesday, a police officer, known as a Garda in Dublin’s city centre, made his way to a narrow lane nestled between Verschoyle Place and Mount Street. He engaged with a lone individual who was residing in a diminutive tent, identifying himself as a representative of the law and notifying the man of his impending displacement. The situation was replicated with each of the approximately 200 displaced individuals taking shelter in Mount Street.
At dawn, a multitude of Garda officers in their formal attire initiated the process of moving these individuals from their temporary homes, instructing them to position themselves on the standby buses. These vehicles were set to transport them to their next place of refuse either in Crooksling, located in the southern part of County Dublin, or Citywest.
Handouts, drafted in several tongues, were distributed amid this crowd by the staff of IPAS to provide formal intimation that their presence in the Mount Street encampment was no longer licit. The handout attested that defiance towards relocation or any attempt to resettle in the area could potentially lead to Legal repercussions including prosecution.
However, this mass evacuation was not embraced by all, one such dissenter was Mohammed Said who hails from Egypt and was found residing in proximity to the IPO. He protested his removal, claiming maltreatment at the hands of the Garda since landing in Ireland from the United Kingdom a few weeks prior.
Seeking refuge, a second individual who identified as a Moroccan national, confirmed that he was also ushered from sleep and informed about the mass translocation. He had sought refuge in Ireland a half-year prior to this occurrence. Unhappily, Said left the Mount Street vicinity on foot, his tent in one hand, and a blue sack carrying a quilt in the other.
In a tear-filled interaction, a man revealed his dread of being moved to substitute lodging due to the prospect of being parted from his significant other. As it stands, they find themselves homeless, trudging toward the Grand Canal carrying two bags of possessions.
Authorities in the Mount Street vicinity fully established a police cordon on Wednesday morning, only permitting those who could validate working or residing in the area to cross the barriers. A host of media personnel, including British correspondents, assembled primarily from the Holles Street end, stretching to capture a more detailed account of the event. Bystanders stopped and filmed on their commute to work.
Post 8am, once the street was removed of inhabitants, heavy-duty machinery, specifically a hydraulic grabber, collected up tents for disposal. The squatters’ makeshift homes were taken down before midday.
Meanwhile, in Crooksling on the same morning, Dia Mohammed, a recent arrival from Jenin in the West Bank, expressed his pleasure about transferring to fresh accommodation. The 25-year-old, spotted at a bus stop opposite St Brigid’s Home, arrived in Ireland a week ago and described his temporary stay at the IPO as challenging.
He voiced his contentment about being in Ireland, highly praising the friendly locals. It took him a gruelling four months to make his journey from Palestine to Ireland, travelling through Egypt, Turkey and France.
A stone’s throw from the Crooksling entrance, two men in their 30s, originating from Morocco and Egypt, shared they had moved to St Brigid’s Home from the IPO in one of three buses early on Wednesday. Their view was that not all occupants were pleased to vacate the IPO, explaining that Crooksling is significantly removed from the city hub. The duo arrived in Ireland from the UK, making the journey to Dublin from Belfast.