The virtual Portal between Dublin and New York City is being switched off on Tuesday night, May 14, for a number of days as solutions are investigated.
“The team behind the Portal art sculpture, Portals.org, has been investigating possible technical solutions to inappropriate behaviour by a small minority of people in front of the Portal," a spokesperson for Dublin City Council told IrishCentral on Tuesday afternoon.
“Dublin City Council had hoped to have a solution in place today, but unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory.
“The Portals.org team is now investigating other options.
“As a result, the Portal will be switched off at 10 pm tonight and the team at Portals.org have told us they expect it will be switched back on later this week.
“We are delighted by how many people have been enjoying the Portal since it was launched last week.
“It 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.”
The news that the Portal will be switched off for a number of days comes a day after Dublin City Council said it would be "implementing some technical solutions" that were set to "go live in the next 24 hours."
Launched on Wednesday, May 8, the Portal is an art sculpture that provides a live stream link between Dublin City and New York City.
While Dublin City Council insisted that most of the interactions and responses to the futuristic installation have been positive, there have been several unsavory instances that have gone viral on social media since the launch last week.
In one clip, a person on the Dublin side of the portal displayed an image of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at NYC's World Trade Center.
The New York / Ireland portal bouta start a war😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/0QTCmFVGvJ
— SolP (@SolProduced) May 11, 2024
Another post on social media showed what appeared to be an inebriated woman on the Dublin side of the Portal being led away by gardai on Wednesday, not long after the installation opened. According to The Limerick Leader, the woman was arrested and charged for public order offenses.
Another clip on TikTok shows a person in Dublin waving to the onlookers in New York before pulling his pants down and baring his backside.
However, the 'inappropriate behavior' is not exclusive to the Dublin side of The Portal.
Ava Louise, an American model on the adult site OnlyFans, claims she forced the shutdown of The Portal after she flashed viewers in Dublin from New York.
"I thought the people of Dublin deserved to see my two, New York, homegrown potatoes," she said in a video posted on Instagram and TikTok on Sunday.
The brief video goes on to show Ava's boyfriend later asking a team member at The Portal why it was shut down.
"Most likely it will be off for quite some time," the team member said in what appears to be a covertly recorded video.
"Because we have, you know, some rules and regulations surrounding it.
"It's very unfortunate that people are acting not in the best way."
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