BAD APPLES
New ‘let us all down’ verdict over ‘inappropriate’ Dublin-New York portal acts after Only Fans model’s daring stunt vow
Dublin City Council have given an update on when it will be switched back on
THE controversial portal to New York should not be moved out of Dublin city centre despite a number of incidents of flashing and inappropriate behaviour, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has claimed.
The 24/7 livestream project between Dublin and New York has been temporarily shut down as officials try to find ways to prevent inappropriate behaviour at the attraction.
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In Dublin, one woman was arrested for a public order incident at the portal while others incidents have seen people flashing or showing images from the 9/11 disaster to New York.
The two-way real-time transmission between the two cities invites people of different cultures to dunblinmeet above borders as part of a groundbreaking art project.
The Dublin portal went dark at 10pm on Tuesday, but it is expected to be live-streaming again later this week.
It is located on North Earl Street facing O'Connell Street, and captures the city's famous Spire and GPO building.
While in New York City it sits at Flatiron South Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street.
Public expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said the inappropriate behaviour is "having an impact" - even though only a small number of visitors have been involved on both sides.
However, he said the live link to New York should remain in place in the capital as a tourist attraction.
He said: “I was delighted to see the portal located off the main street of my capital city.
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"I feel that the very small number of people who have been involved in inappropriate behaviour have let us all down.
“But you only have to see the numbers of people who are coming to Dublin at the moment to spend the summer holidays here to know that the standing of Dublin in the eyes of the rest of the world is still really, really high.
“I hope that the portal not only stays in Dublin but that it stays where it is.
"And I hope that the small number of people that are letting the rest of us down with that behaviour realise the impact that it is having and that we can look at ways from a technology perspective that that kind of behaviour is diminished.
“All that being said, I think that anybody who was standing at the other side of the portal very early in the morning or very late at night – not everybody always conducts themselves in the way they would want.
“I think it was a really interesting innovation. Really interesting to see the number of people going out to the portal and I’m sure for the vast majority of people it was good to look at and good to participate in.”
'NOT SATISFACTORY'
Dublin City Council said in a statement on Tuesday that the portals would be switched off to investigate "possible technical solutions to inappropriate behaviour by a small minority of people."
They said: "Unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory.
"As a result the portal will be switched off at 10pm tonight and the team at Portals.org have told us they expect it will be switched back on later this week.
OnlyFans model Ava Louise claims have got New York to Dublin portal shut down after flashing her breasts
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"We are delighted by how many people have been enjoying the portal since it was launched last week."
They also said that the 24/7 artwork has become a global phenomenon, and "it is important to note that the overwhelming majority of people interacting with the Dublin portal have behaved appropriately."
And the Lithuanian entrepreneur and founder of the portal Benediktas Gylys said there should be limits as children could watch the livestream on the other side of the screen.
He said: "Definitely it's about us humans creating the artwork together, but we need to make sure that it's also family friendly.
"I think everyone should think of a seven-year-old child that is in New York that wants to experience and that wants to connect to Dublin and wave to people there.
"So that was my only request for the lovely people of Ireland."
'REALLY FUNNY'
OnlyFans model Ava Louise has claimed she was behind the reason the portals were shut down over the weekend after flashing her boobs on the New York City side.
She exclusively told The Irish Sun: "Everyone that was there thought it was really funny.
"Everyone on the New York City side really loved it, everyone on the Dublin side were pulling out their phones and filming it.
"Everyone had a smile on their face, they seemed to be really enjoying it."
Barricades were placed around the portal after the following incident.
A security guard who has been working on a rotating basis at the site told RTÉ that "anything can happen" in NYC.
He said: "As a New Yorker, I feel pretty disrespected. It feels a bit like putting alcohol in the wound a little bit because there are people here still recovering from 9/11."
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Portals.org, the company behind the installation, said in a statement that its goal is "to open a window between faraway places and cultures to interact freely with one another."
"We encourage people to be respectful, and from our position as observers, we see that the absolute majority of experiences is on the bright side."
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