On Friday, law enforcement officials responded to a disturbance at a makeshift dwelling known as an encampment, following reports of tents being tossed into the Grand Canal in Dublin. An estimated 20 tents, home to homeless individuals and those seeking asylum, situated on Parnell Road in Crumlin, were purportedly vandalised, with tents and personal belongings cast into the canal.
A resident of the encampment, who goes by Love’Son, narrated that a group of six men, one of whom had his face covered with a balaclava, descended on the encampment around 11am. Love’Son, along with others, had made this their temporary abode after having been evicted from their previous location. They had set up their tents here “late at night” and had spent the night there.
According to Love’Son, he was ordered to vacate his tent before they pitched it into the canal. Further alarming was the threatening behaviour of these individuals, one of whom intimidated Love’Son with violence using a discarded chair. As a result of the hostile encounter, most encampment occupants hastily left the area.
Love’Son, who had traveled from Spain to Ireland looking for work and arrived on July 31st, has had a difficult time since his arrival. Prior to his time at the encampment, he had been sleeping in Tolka Valley Park where he claims to have been assaulted by two men who then tossed his belongings into the Royal Canal.
Two female locals, witnesses to the incident at the canal, alerted the Gardaí. However, they were challenged by two men who passed by and openly questioned their sympathy for the homeless, insinuating that their own people should be prioritised. The two men were subsequently moved on by the Gardaí.
Despite the trying circumstances, Love’Son remains undecided about his stay in Ireland as he doesn’t have the financial means to move yet. He maintained that his experiences were not reflective of the larger Irish population, which he believes to be predominantly good-natured and that such bigotry was due to the ignorance of a small percentage.
As of Friday evening, according to the Garda Press Office, there were no reports submitted concerning any physical assaults connected to the said incident.
It’s acknowledged that on Friday, police officers arrived at the campsite following reports of tents being discarded into the Grand Canal. Moreover, it’s also noted, there were no occupants at the encampment when the authorities reacted.