Protesters tear down controversial fencing along the Grand Canal

Barriers were erected along the Grand Canal after asylum seekers who could not get State or private accommodation started camping there.  Picture: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

Controversial fencing along Dublin’s Grand Canal, erected to stop people camping, was ripped down by protesters on Thursday evening.

The fencing was referred to as “hostile architecture” by Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) which helped organise the protest to call for Waterways Ireland to remove the fencing.

Barriers were erected along the Grand Canal after asylum seekers who could not get State or private accommodation started camping there.

In recent weeks, Waterways Ireland, which is responsible for the canal, told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that €125,000 had been spent on the barriers so far.

More than 360 tents have been removed from the Grand Canal since May at a cost of €145,000 to Waterways Ireland, RTÉ reports.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik attended the beginning of the protest on Portobello Place but did not see the fences being torn down.

“I cannot condone people tearing down property but I would say that people are frustrated by the continued presence of the barriers,” she said.

“The barriers themselves pose a risk. They make many walkers feel unsafe because you're very hemmed in, there's nowhere to go.” 

Ms Bacik has previously called for a commitment from Waterways Ireland to remove the fencing, which is now “like a tunnel” and leaves people using the canal feeling trapped and unsafe.

One woman was forced into the canal with her small dog to avoid a larger dog when she was out walking recently, Ms Bacik said.

Ms Bacik said she has raised the issue in the Dáil and “called on the Minister to ensure there's appropriate accommodation provided for people who seek refugee status here."

Waterways Ireland told Ms Bacik that the fencing would not be removed until October but that the organization was looking at alternative ways to make the area safer, she said.

“We're not really clear what's meant by that. And really, this is all about the government's failure to provide enough refugee accommodation.

“Fencing off the canals and public areas is not a way to deal with this. The way to deal with this is to provide more accommodation," Ms Bacik said.

Two men were found dead in the canal on July 6 close to where barriers had been erected. They were named as Donal Scanlon, 49, and Alex Warnick, 42.

Mr Scanlon was originally from Ballybunion, Co Kerry and Mr Warnick was from the US. Foul play is not suspected in their deaths.

Two days later, three men were arrested after an alleged attack on asylum seekers camping by the barriers close to Dublin’s Grand Canal.

And this week, tents sheltering 15 asylum seekers were attacked on nearby City Quay.