Dublin-New York livestream temporarily closed over ‘inappropriate behaviour’

A livestream portal between Dublin and New York was temporarily closed after some “inappropriate behaviour” in the Irish capital, which has led to changes in how the visual link operates.

The “technical solutions” are set to go live in the next 24 hours, according to the Dublin City Council.

It said a small minority of people have been engaged in “inappropriate behaviour”, which has been amplified on social media.

Thousands of people have visited the two-way livestream portal, which gives a real-time view of New York.

The 24/7 stream is situated in north Dublin, facing O’Connell Street, while the American installation is on North Earl Street.

Videos on social media have show how some on the Irish side have flashed body parts, displayed swear words on phone screens and images of the twin towers on 9/11.

Another woman was escorted away by Irish police after she was seen grinding against the portal.

In a statement, a spokesman for Dublin City Council said: “The Portals artwork facilitates a wide range of human interactions and engagements.

“Within days of the launch, the Dublin and NYC Portals have received hundreds of millions of positive impressions on social media and widespread global coverage in the press including CNN, BBC, USA Today.

“We have also seen a significant increase in footfall to the Portal since its launch around North Earl Street and O’Connell Street.

“The overwhelming majority of interactions are positive. We have seen families and friends unite, dancing moves being shared as well as new friendships being made. There was even a successful marriage proposal.

“The Portal offers a window to other cities and is connecting people and cultures in a unique manner – what we are seeing between Dublin and NY is reflective of a wider narrative of cultural behaviour.

“Unfortunately, we have also been witnessing a very small minority of people engaged in inappropriate behaviour, which has been amplified through social media.

“While we cannot control all of these actions, we are implementing some technical solutions to address this and these will go live in the next 24 hours.

“We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days with our partners in New York to ensure that Portals continue to deliver a positive experience for both cities and the world.

“The Portal sculptures have been very well received in both New York City and Dublin.

“The team at portals.org and partners are still working on improving the software for better stability and to prepare for Portals to expand to more locations on Earth.

“Those works are being done mostly at night and during those hours, the livestream might be paused.

“This will deliver a better experience for all participants and some surprises to keep the artwork engaging.

“The Portal is for the public to use and we encourage people to enjoy it, interact with it and to continue to meet and say hello to people outside of their social circles and cultures.”

The Portals Organisation said: “As Portals Organisation, we do not intend to suggest people to interact with Portals in any particular way – our goal is to open a window between far away places and cultures that allows people 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.”

However, in an earlier statement a spokeswoman for Portals Organisation said that it briefly paused the livestream to “update the software used on the Portal”.

“It’s not broken.

“Our goal is to provide a “window” between different locations, but the nature of this being a livestream sometimes requires us to pause, for updates, maintenance or to fix technical glitches,” it said in a statement to the PA news agency.

“The Portals are active again since noon today.”