A dedicated 24-hour patrol team is now monitoring Dublin’s Grand Canal to stop homeless asylum seekers from pitching tents and protect the fencing along the waterway.

Waterways Ireland has said there will be two security guards patrolling the area at all times.

The security guards have been patrolling the length of the waterway from Grand Canal Street to Portobello since Tuesday.

They are tasked with notifying Gardaí of any new encampments, warning people about the ban on tents in the area and mitigating any potential health and safety risks.

It is understood the guards warned several asylum seekers camped by the canal to leave the area on Wednesday.

Tents erected along Dublin’s Grand Canal. Image: Barry Whyte/Newstalk

In a statement, Waterways Ireland said the security patrol was a “pilot programme which will be kept under review”.

“Waterways Ireland has introduced enhanced monitoring, whereby two security personnel will augment Waterways Ireland staff by patrolling the area on a 24-hour basis,” it said.

It said the patrols would:

• Ensure health and safety and public health risks remain mitigated.
• Notify Gardai of any issues in real time.
• Ascertain the pattern of when and how many encampments are taking place.
• Advise any arrivals of the ban on pitching tents by the canal.

The body said it remains “seriously concerned for the safety and health of people staying in tents by the canal”.

It said it continues to work towards removing the fencing along the canal, adding that it is exploring a number of options – including the “acceleration of a landscaping and biodiversity programme of works” that would make it harder to pitch tents.

The anti-tent fencing was erected after a multi-agency operation to remove asylum seeker tents from the banks of the canal in May.

Members of the public pass tents belonging to asylum seekers along the Grand Canal, as news reports indicate the number of tents has now increased to above 100. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Waterways Ireland has said the fencing, which runs from Grand Canal Street to Portobello, is costing €30,000 per week to maintain.

There have been several protests against the fencing over the summer – including one in which sections of it were torn down overnight.

Demonstrators have labelled the fencing “exclusionary, racist and classist”.