A LARGE NUMBER of people are to be re-accommodated after they set up at least 60 tents outside the Dáil in Dublin.

The group, of mostly men, set up the tents following a Government decision to move them out of an International Protection Accommodation centre in Citywest in Dublin.

They were directed to go back onto the streets as the State can no longer provide them with adequate accommodation. The group were directed to remove their tents on Kildare Street by gardaí this afternoon and were later offered housing at a different site.

Gardaí attended the site this afternoon and directed those on Kildare Street to remove their tents. © RollingNews.ie © RollingNews.ie

According to the Irish Refugee Council, most of the group had been housed in Citywest during a cold snap. Once the cold weather was over, a number of people were told to return back onto the street.

People seeking international protection and were removed from their accommodation protested on Kildare Street outside Leinster House yesterday, as new TDs from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin met for the first time.

Most press conferences before and after those meetings took place on the other side of the building on Merrion Street.

People seeking international protection protested outside the Dáil yesterday after they were told they had to leave Citywest. © RollingNews.ie © RollingNews.ie

More than 3,000 people have now arrived to Ireland to seek protection and have not been offered a place to stay by the State. It is the largest the number has even been since the Government ran out of public-owned accommodation on 4 December last year.

The Irish Refugee Council, a charity organisation that advocates for humane and dignified protection procedures, labelled the decision to move the group of people away from Citywest as “reckless”.

“Some accommodated for days and then told to go to the streets for the first time,” it said on a post on Twitter/X. “This is not normal. This is not lawful. Change needed now.”

Nick Henderson, the CEO of the organisation, is calling for urgent action.

A spokesperson for the Department for Integration told The Journal that it engaged with the group camped beside Leinster House. According to the spokesperson, the group slept at the site for one night.

A new accommodation centre, which will house 1,000 people, has been established in Athlone, Co Westmeath. The spokesperson said the site began accepting the first group of people seeking international protection yesterday.