Reopened Live Video Portal Connects New York and Dublin With Enhanced Safeguards

A live video portal linking New York and Dublin has reopened with sensors to block inappropriate behavior that led to its temporary shutdown. The portal features large screens displaying live feeds between the cities and now includes barriers and limited operational hours for additional security.

A live video portal linking New York with Dublin has reopened after being fitted with sensors that organisers hope will block out inappropriate behaviour by passers-by - including exposing body parts - that led to its shut-down a week ago. The Portal sculpture opened earlier this month linking a street in New York's Flatiron district to central Dublin. A large circular screen at each location displays a live video feed from the other.

Within days of its opening, some late-night revellers in Dublin took to exposing body parts and holding up pornographic images to the camera. At least one New York woman exposed her breasts. "There is only a handful of people that have misbehaved," a programme manager for Dublin City Council Culture Company Nollaig Fahy told RTE radio. "Unfortunately, that's going to happen in the public realm."

In a bid to block "bad behaviour", a system of sensors has been added to blur the portal at both ends if people get too close to the camera, Fahy said. The portal, whose feed was restored on Monday, will operate with limited hours and with physical barriers at both locations to stop people from getting too close, Dublin City Council said in a statement. (Writing by Dublin Bureau Editing by Mark Potter)