Dublin in crisis: Once a thriving capital, today the city centre is dangerous, dirty and downright depressing

by Leavser1

32 comments

  1. You could walk from Baggott Street to Portobello, passing through Merrion Square, Trinity, Grafton St. and surrounds, Stephen’s Green, George’s Street, up Harcourt and on to the canal, and come away with the opposite impression to the article title.

  2. Are these articles written by people who don’t leave the house? Dublin isn’t dangerous and is still great craic. In some ways it’s better than it was back in the day; better food, pedestrianised areas are a massive success.

    Closures of businesses is shite craic and Gov need to get finger out but Dublin is still a quality city in my opinion.

  3. It seems a lot of cities are having similar problems.

    One of the solutions seems to be making sure regular people want to spend time outside in the city centre, e.g., encouraging outside restaurant tables, food trucks, integrating social areas like playgrounds, skate parks, etc.

    My impression in Dublin City centre at the moment is that there is no reason for people to hang out on areas like Dame st, O’Connell st, etc., unless you’re shady or looking for trouble.

  5. I don’t understand how articles can’t have a bit of nuance. Dublin can be both nice and have issues at the same time

  6. Many people now only visiting the city center for work reasons.

    We have a planning process that actively encourages the suburbs.

    We have a rise of shopping centers on the fringes.

    It will eventually kill the city centers after work hours.

  7. I do find cities now more depressing the last few years. A lot of shop spaces are empty as rent is too high, everything seems to be more expensive than last time you were there & the streets aren’t really that clean but even in “good times” I never viewed it as thriving, atmospheric & boisterous; more busy & a bit too congested. It’s never been 100% safe as there is a looseness to authority & you always saw incidents cropping up.

  8. Is it ? I’m there now and it’s amazing what’s this liar talking about?

  9. >These days, I prefer busy suburban centres, like Ranelagh, Rathmines or Stoneybatter. All offer lively pubs and restaurants with good service in a relaxed atmosphere without the grief. And it’s blissfully easy to get home afterwards.

    Have to say there, COVID really revitalised the suburbs. There’s so many great restaurants and cafés in places where there used to be nothing. I know Ranelagh has been like that for about 20 years but many other places are following the same trend.

  10. Looking at the usual crowd actually _defending_ the state of Dublin City Centre it’s not too hard to understand why things are allowed to get so bad in Ireland.

  11. For those outside Dublin and who haven’t visited in a while they’d be terrified reading the headline.
    I’ve been in the city 3 times in the past few months. Saturday afternoon/evening drinks, Camden street towards Stephen’s Green and many of the pubs in between, no issues at all, great fun as always. Grafton St. and surrounding areas are as safe as they ever were.
    It’s gone very rough around North inner city in places like Parnel St, O’Connell St., Talbot St. We need a much stronger police presence.
    It’s no warzone, you just feel a bit more on edge these days.

  12. “*Back in my day Dublin was full of craic, these days it’s just full of crack*” 

  14. Dublin used to be dangerous dirty and depressing during the 80s and 90s

    fortunately they are getting all this money from the local property tax so I imagine our county council are going to ramp up spending and get this sorted soon.

  15. I hate this stupid narrative. Dublin has ALWAYS been considered a grimy and dirty city in this country, this imaginary point in time everyone harks back to when it was some grand thriving city full of nothing but upstanding citizens doesn’t exist.

    And anyway Dublin today is far more vibrant and far more diverse and interesting than at probably any point in history

  16. Does she mention in which years Dublin was a thriving capital?

  17. People saying it isint that bad have not spent enough time in Dublin City Centre over last 25 years to even judge.

    It is that bad, yes the city was not great in the 80s before temple bar came about but it has honestly turned into abit of a drug infested hell hole over the past 5, it used to kind of only be O’Connell street and that general area of N.Side City Centre but it’s now everywhere around the city.

  18. Found it a shithole when i moved there in 2018 and was still a shithole when i left in 22.

    There are some real nice parts of dublin. None of them are the city center

  20. Why does this sub lap up hysterical fear-mongering so readily?

    Is it because people are cowards or is it a self-loathing thing?

  21. What a load of shite, it’s not that bad. It was literally a slum a 100 years ago. The people who write these articles must view the world as one big Disney movie.

  23. I live in Dublin, inside the canals and have done for 15 years.  Here’s my opinion, which is no more valid than anyone else’s:

    – lax attitude to low level crime.  Graffiti, vandalism, shop-lifting, drug dealing, banging-up, passing out on the street and begging are more or less allowed.  This is corrosive and ultimately downgrades the city.  I assume this is partly ideologically driven, like the decision to put methadone clinics in the city centre. 

    – developer and landlord-led policies have caused insane commercial rents.  This has driven up prices which makes people stay away

    – access is so hard.  You can’t just drive into town any more (I can walk, but I’m an exception).  Buses are crap and the Luas has no where near enough capacity.  It’s just too much hassle to go to town

    – no effective management.  DCC can’t even keep the streets clean.  Parts of the city have just been given up on.  This is probably the key issue in Dublin; it is so badly managed.  Planning and maintenance are crap.  Some of the architecture that gets green lit in Dublin is shocking.  Then they won’t let high rises in the IFSE.  There’s no plan and no vision.  We need an elected mayor badly and I don’t even know wtf councillors do

    – the idea that Dublin is a cesspool has taken hold and is amplified by the media and social media.  Lots of suburbs are nice, so why bother going into town

    – loads of hotels and bars that rip off tourists.  This appears to be the business model in Dublin.  No effort to bring cultural or off-beat/eccentric businesses into the city.  Everything is about huge rents requiring huge turnover (which means tourist money or chains).  

  24. Funny, American here – I was just there and we were raving about how safe and clean it felt lol.

  25. It’s true.

    I was in Dublin last week and got killed twice.

    Dreading the thoughts of going up for a gig on Tues night.

  27. Such doom-posting shite.

    I was back in Dublin this week and it was a lovely.
    The pubs and restaurants were busy and there was a there was a nice atmosphere in the city.
    Plenty of free museums and parks.

    I lived and worked in Dublin city centre for many years and I’m well aware of the issues the city faces.

    I can’t stand this clickbaity doomer headlines.

  28. I’ve been heading into the city for one reason or another since 1992. I can’t remember when it wasn’t dirty and depressing

  31. We short funded the police, we have nowhere near enough prison capacity and our justice system is a joke. Until the mainstream government parties start actually addressing these problems, the public will have to choose between an authoritarian nightmare or the situation getting worse. Watching some idiots post about how *they* haven’t been personally mugged so it’s all nonsense, is terrifying in its apathetic stupidity.

  32. Is it possible to read this without paying/ subscribing?

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