A number of asylum seekers had been sleeping rough in the area but, fortunately, no one was inside the tents at the time.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 2nd October 2024
Aubrey McCarthy, co-founder of Tiglin homeless charity, said his outreach team contacted him about the incident, which happened just after lunch on Monday.
“It looks like lighter fuel was poured on them; they were burned out. Thank God nobody was in the tents,” he said.
“It’s a horrendous situation – not only to find yourself homeless, but to find yourself in a tent that’s under attack.
“When you’re in a tent, you don’t have that protection to hide or to protect yourself; there are no walls, just fabric between you and whoever’s outside.
“I remember when I was doing this years ago with the Salvation Army, and somebody poured lighter fuel on an asylum seeker. He was set on fire, lost his ear, and was scarred for life.
“Imagine being in that situation where you’ve escaped a war, only to face violence again,” he added.
A garda spokesperson confirmed that members of the gardaí and fire services responded to reports of a fire at Clanwilliam Place in Dublin 2 on Monday, September 30.
“The fire was put out by local fire services. No injuries were reported, and inquiries are ongoing,” they added.
Mr McCarthy said the role of his charity is to identify people who are still unaccommodated and inform the relevant government department so they can “hopefully address those vulnerabilities”.
He also said the cold weather initiative, which is coming soon, will help to get people off the streets, particularly those who are long-term rough sleepers.
“This year, I hope the homeless cold weather initiative will take into account anybody on the streets,” Mr McCarthy added.
