Was just about to post this. 100% agree with most of the comments. Things have gotten so much worse.
How we let a small city be so badly overrun by AS behaviour and crime. Shameful
It’s awful. I’ve been assaulted, my friends were assaulted or robbed. The town is filthy, messy and looks unkempt and broken. Awful teens everywhere, littering and randomly squaring up to people. It’s just rough rough rough.
I do not encorage anyone to visit or if they do I recommend D2 and Howth or other coastal towns exclusively.
The worst thing i I don’t think it’s going to improve, the council and the guards do absolutely nothing between them. They think it’s normal.
Over the past year concerns have been raised by politicians, business owners and Dublin city centre residents about the level of antisocial behaviour being experienced in the capital, on the streets and public transport.
A number of initiatives have since been announced by the Government and gardaí in response.
These operations are ongoing, but many people — including homeless people, members of the LGBT community and business owners — have expressed concern over the level of assaults and antisocial behaviour in the city.
We asked Irish Times readers to share their views on the subject, and below is a selection of their responses.
Children are affected more than ever now because of Covid. Everything shut down, no facilities and nothing to do – no wonder they end up taking a wrong turn and find themselves getting into difficulty. The Government has to do more for deprived areas to look after the kids and their mental health.
Too many people are calling gardaí in response to children hanging around. What’s that going to do? They are not doing anything. We have to let kids be kids. Too many busybodies around.
The idea that Dublin is not safe is ridiculous. I live in Dublin and am out and about and never have any trouble. People just like to moan and whinge. Just keep to yourself and keep your head down and you won’t have any trouble. James Russell, Co Dublin
I’ve seen gangs of youths roaming about, some on bikes blocking footpaths, shouting, using foul language in the city, spitting at people and stealing bikes, terrorising visitors in St Anne’s Park. They all appear to be 13 to 16 and become very aggressive if challenged.
It’s a frightening feeling of vulnerability in Dublin now. What is needed is a more visible police presence patrolling the streets with a zero-tolerance attitude. Everyone going through the courts system pleads some sort of ridiculous excuse. I travel a lot for my work, and was always proud of my city but I don’t encourage visitors any longer. It is too dangerous, hedonistic and out of control. Helen O’Kelly, Co Dublin
We set off from the airport by Dublin Bus at about 2am. Trip to O’Connell St went well; my partner then walked me to Eden Quay, before setting of to catch his bus on Aston Quay. Just across O’Connell Bridge, without warning and out of nowhere, a young male passer-by delivered a ferocious kick to my partner’s wheelie case, so that it swung into the air almost pulling his arm from its socket. The passer-by blithely continued on his way. Throughout our entire journey from the airport, there was not a garda in sight. Maura Eaton, Co Dublin
I work on City Quay, the boardwalk area is lovely with nice benches etc but it’s mostly unusable. In the evenings there are gangs of kids roaming the area intimidating passers-by. Drug dealing is happening in plain sight. Ann O’Rafferty, Co Dublin
> It’s a frightening feeling of vulnerability in Dublin now. What is needed is a more visible police presence patrolling the streets with a zero-tolerance attitude. Everyone going through the courts system pleads some sort of ridiculous excuse.
Well said. The usual fucking shit around **education** and **training courses** for lowlifes with a catalogue of convictions. The carrot has been fruitlessly tried; now apply the stick
I don’t even live in Dublin but I’ve visited a fair few times over the years for various reasons and I have to say I don’t really feel safe in Dublin a lot of the time.
Maybe I’m just a magnet for scum bags and anti-social behaviour but the amount of fights I’ve seen between shop staff and scumbags, or even just a fight out in the open I’ve seen is absolutely ridiculous considering how many times I’ve been there.
And that often even in the city centre or tourist areas which is even stranger. I’ve never felt like I was in danger at any point in any of the other touristy places of other cities I’ve been.
This prick:
> The idea that Dublin is not safe is ridiculous. I live in Dublin and am out and about and never have any trouble. People just like to moan and whinge. **Just keep to yourself and keep your head down and you won’t have any trouble**. James Russell, Co Dublin
The older I’m getting the more I tend to go for early drinks with friends, partially so I’m back home and tucked in bed early and also to avoid the chaos and madness that is late night town these days.
The first principle of peelian policing, from which tradition the gards stem, is the prevention of crime.
Modern police forces seem to have completely fallen into a reactive role, relying on cameras etc to address crime after it has already occurred, and then spending endless hours doing bureaucratic busy work rather than being out on patrol in the places and at the times at which crime occurs and being visible to the public that they’re supposed to be liaising with.
The second principle is gaining public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and ability to secure public respect. I would argue this is slipping pretty quick.
I lived in Warsaw before moving to Dublin last year.
There’s gangs and kids and whatever there too.
But the police seem to have some PRESENCE in Warsaw.
When there’s coppers walking, you know that nobody would fuck around. There’s always a pair of them on foot patrolling the city centre, shadier parks, or wherever.
And if you feel a bit threatened, you know that there’s always someone around.
It was quite a shock for me to see that there’s 0 Garda presence here in dublin. I rarely see a Garda car or some Garda patrolling, especially in typically troublesome areas.
I’d like to carry some pepper spray or something to defend myself if I get into trouble but I heard they are illegal here.
Can’t have something to defend yourself. No Garda to defend you. What are we meant to do?
[removed]
We need **more Gardaí in Dublin on bikes**. Patrolling is typically done by either a pair of Gardaí on foot or a pair of Gardaí in a car. You need foot patrols, but they are necessarily limited in the ground they can cover. Works for the dense inner city, it’s shit enough once you leave that area and go to even the inner suburbs. There you see Gardaí use cars for patrolling, which isn’t ideal. It limits their interaction with what’s going on at street level, they essentially have to make a choice to stop and get out if they see something that needs their attention, which raises the threshold for interaction.
One thing our Gardaí are good at is community policing, which is something much more easily done on a bicycle than in a car.
>Bicycle patrol is associated with *more contacts with the public and higher rates of proactive policing when compared to motor vehicle patrol and bicycle officers are more likely to rate higher on several measures of crime control.* Officers with a COP mandate engage with the public for a wider variety of reasons compared to those with a reactive mandate, and are more likely to rate higher on perceptions of performing job duties in a procedurally just manner.
James Russell should say the exact same thing again he said about Dublin city to Urantsetseg Tserendorj’s Husband. Russell is more than a gobshite. he is a very stupid and tone deaf man. Myself and my friends have been attacked before and we are always quiet and never try to cause trouble or provoke anybody. I hope for his sake nobody attacks his loved ones but at the same time if it does happen, he’ll get a wake up call
In my local area, there was a bunch of kids/teenagers hanging out on a corner. Shouting at people or playing chicken with their bikes where they cycle directly at you until you move or they hit you. There was a squad car driving by with the sirens on (to a different area). All the kids ran like crazy in all directions. 2 minutes later they all came back. So even if the guards were coming for those kids, what are they meant to do if they all fuck off when they show up, then all reappear once they go.
Needs to be some sort of juvenile criminal system. One of the comments talked about a group of teenagers with weapons squaring off in George’s Dock. Surely that’s the kind of thing where you identify and round up those kids on the spot or after the fact. Charge them with assault using a weapon and they go off to Juvenile detention for a few months. Setting zero boundaries and letting people feel like they can do whatever they want is just going to cause more trouble. You’ll always have scumbags but at least with some sort of penalties, some of them might think twice.
It’s not just about serious crime either, it’s also about intimidation/fear. Nobody wants to live somewhere that people think they are above the law, that they can’t be challenged and there’s no penalty to whatever they want to do to you or other people.
Dublin is a lawless toilet. Tourism Ireland should be sued for promoting it as a tourist destination.
What’s to blame? Low policing numbers, weak sentencing guidelines paired with political cowardice when it comes to building a new prison.
People can want more enforcement all they want, but until the judicial system actually does something about the genuine cases of crime (and I don’t just mean “lock them all up” like some people want), I’m not sure what else the guards can realistically do. It’s probably demoralising for them. Like what’s the point of arresting someone, etc., if they’re back at it later that day with no difference made?
As for young people just acting the bollocks or hanging around in groups but not actually doing anything overly bad, in that case I think people just have to stop being so nervous around working-class kids.
I feel like such a moaner leaning into a conversation like this. But this is an issue that wrecks lives and reduces the quality of life in our cities.
The only solution, as I see it (and I know nothing), is more aggressive policing coupled with encouraging the public to not accept anti-social behaviour of any kind – even things like graffiti, drinking on the streets or petty vandalism.
To be honest, I think as Irish society gets ‘richer’, there is more of a gap between people on the bottom and top. Crime will continue to increase.
It will get like the states if we keep going the same way.
Ah I get to post my favourite anecdote again!
I’m working in the Abbey Theatre at the time. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and his wife are visiting. He has an entourage of security personnel inside the foyer with him while he meets the front of house staff.
12 feet away, outside the glass doors and visible to everyone are 2 junkies knocking lumps out of each other, in front of our president.
Across the street are 2 Garda standing under a shelter. It’s raining. They’re pointing and laughing at the junkies.
I’ll never forget it.
The area around mountjoy is chaos – hoards of dodgy teenagers, Roma gypsies, drug addicts, alcoholics. What the guy says about fitzgibbon Garda station is completely true – it’s literally round the corner and you never see them anywhere.
Great another “ Dublin is a shithole/hellhole/gone to the dogs” post. Always a good time.
I got spat at, I tackled the under 18 year old, I got a suspended sentence of 6 months from Judge Fahy of Galway for defending myself.
A lot of the comments here are blaming a lack of Gardai in the city centre which is a fair point.
Another aspect is the criminal justice system. Juveniles who are not suitable for the JLO scheme are dealt with in the children’s court in Smithfield.
Many of the cases there are drawn out with a significant amount of remands therefore taking a long time to conclude. Many of the cases result in the youth being given a probation order (attending meetings with a probation officer) or a suspended sentence which is essentially a slap on the wrist.
Even IF they get a short sentence in Oberstown Children’s Detention Campus (not allowed call it centre or prison) it is not much of a deterrent.
Many repeat offenders even have a garda case manager who tries to group their cases together and notify the court of bail breaches. Even still it is rare bail is revoked.
A lot of these thugs are out stealing bikes phones scooters, earning cash in the drug trade and have become reckless without any consequences. In a lot of cases there’s no parents or decent home environment. Many of them turn 18 and start staying in hostels around the city centre.
Another observation is the Garda Commissioner seems to avoid criticism when it comes to this issue. As he moves towards a more UK style of policing, less police visible on the streets is to be expected.
Over the last ten years, people in the UK have seen a large reduction of officers on the beat as resources have been put into other aspect of policing. This is from the Institute for government in the UK:
*This steep increase in complex and violent crimes means that deploying additional police on the streets may not be appropriate, with these crimes often requiring more substantial involvement from other types of police staff including those working in operational and business support.*
The attitude over there is not to invest in more officers on the beat to tackle similar issues we are facing.
Is it more lawless than 2001?
This should be bread and butter vote winning stuff for FG. I’m baffled why they are ignoring it.
It’ll break anyones heart to see an area they may have called home being turned to shit.
It is not a lack of Garda but the judicial system is to blame for this state of affairs.
Young criminals feel unpunished with many crimes under their belt.
They are too young or they will show up in court with their parents and the judge says they must get another chance, and another.
Young thugs laughs at Garda’s face because they knows that they’re untouchable.
Only the inevitability of punishment would force them to change their behavior.
I can’t really stand people whose point is; ‘what they’re saying is wrong, it’s not unsafe’.
If you tell me it’s unsafe in Ballygobackwards my response will be, ‘is it really?’. I don’t just argue and deny other peoples’ experience like they’re lying.
These people are blocking the way of any progress. I don’t get attacked cos of my size and physique but I do see it happening and I talk to people who are victims of this kind of lawlessness.
It’s not made up, it’s not a lie. It’s a huge problem.
I blame the law society and the judiciary, their elitist arrogance and I dare say corruption in profiting from this revolving door system is leaving Dublin in dog shit. All well for them, so fuck all the rest of us. The arrogance to act like we’re somehow not smart or understanding enough is a joke. I do not feel some middle class guilt for someone else’s aimless violent criminality.
We’re all being made fools of here. Maybe locking people up doesn’t cure their criminality, but it does remove violent parasites from the street, which I’m A-OK with.
I think a major problem is that these gangs are/feel untouchable because due to an extremely laxed court system and conviction process there is little to no reason for them to feel otherwise.
You hear it in the news every day, “the gurrier appears in court today aug 2022 for an assault the night of Jan 4th 2014 he… has 86 previous convictions… Came from an impoverished area, problems at home.. 4 year sentence 3 years suspended” its a joke shop. And if they get sent to the joy sure that’s crim school they come out with a new network of toerags, schemes and the rest.
I genuinely don’t blame the gardai. I think about the young lad nearly kicked to death recently in mayor Square, a gang of youths. If two gardai walked around the corner and there was 15 young lads battering someone there is eff all they could do, their power, their one thing is their authority. If the toerags they are coming up against don’t respect that, they have no cards to play. Imagine a group of 17-18 year old thugs hanging out intimidating people and a 5ft 3, garda and her 21 year old skinny malinksmalojin partner rock up and tell them to move on. They’d be laughed out of the place. I remember seeing the cops in Spain when I was a youth o lads holidays and they carrying assault rifles, grenades, god knows what else with German shepherd’s and I can tell you the last thing on my mind was to fuck around and find out.
Don’t get me wrong I’m sure they have plenty of problems due to arming the police. But I’d say they have a lot less young guys acting the bollox.
Little to no consequences for offenders, free legal aid, solicitors cleaning up on the back of the tax payer, lack of garda presence in city centre hotspots, wasting garda resources (busting small time cannabis users or checking tax on cars at 6pm on a monday), judges that do not care, outdated sentencing system, parents with no control and an unwillingness to take responsibility, broken homes, suspended sentences.
These are all contributing factors. This has been brewing for some time and now we are seeing things boil over.
People like to hold up other countries, in particular the US, and say “well it could be worse” and it’s not that bad in Dublin comparably speaking.
I’d never move back. Never felt half as unsafe here as I did in Dublin the last 3 years before I left (2019-2021). The one comment there about “an edge” and tension in the city is spot on. Those in power lack the will to fix it or even try. Vigilante justice can’t be far away.
There is a severe lack of consequences for such scummy behavior by these youths. Noone ever gets punished. Even crimes committed clear as day on CCTV for the nation to see don’t result in anything. It makes me ashamed of Dublin.
Live and work in the centre of a city, saw a Garda tonight for the first time in at least 11 days. I know that for sure because its the first time I’ve seen the new uniforms.
I thought that Thiago would have been a turning point and every day I am disappointed it wasn’t. It will take a politician being murdered on our streets before they ever care to look at this problem, unfortunately most of them live in a detached reality where they never need to step foot in areas with this problem or if they do they can do so with protection not afforded to the average person.
Dublin is 100% getting worse.
Ive had Brazilian mates attacked because scrotes presumed they were part of the deliveroo rider drugs gang. Areas like tallaght and finglas becoming rampant with attacks on randomers.
Women being leered at and sexually assaulted around south circular and clonskeagh by muslim migrants.
That muslim nutjob who murdered lads on grindr in Sligo.
Political polls showing populist, racist parties surging in votes.
Its really gone to the dogs
Was up in Dublin last Monday with one of the kids for shopping and a gig. The amount of open drug use in broad daylight was a bit of a shocker tbh. Never seen it as bad.
35 comments
Was just about to post this. 100% agree with most of the comments. Things have gotten so much worse.
How we let a small city be so badly overrun by AS behaviour and crime. Shameful
It’s awful. I’ve been assaulted, my friends were assaulted or robbed. The town is filthy, messy and looks unkempt and broken. Awful teens everywhere, littering and randomly squaring up to people. It’s just rough rough rough.
I do not encorage anyone to visit or if they do I recommend D2 and Howth or other coastal towns exclusively.
The worst thing i I don’t think it’s going to improve, the council and the guards do absolutely nothing between them. They think it’s normal.
Over the past year concerns have been raised by politicians, business owners and Dublin city centre residents about the level of antisocial behaviour being experienced in the capital, on the streets and public transport.
A number of initiatives have since been announced by the Government and gardaí in response.
These operations are ongoing, but many people — including homeless people, members of the LGBT community and business owners — have expressed concern over the level of assaults and antisocial behaviour in the city.
We asked Irish Times readers to share their views on the subject, and below is a selection of their responses.
Children are affected more than ever now because of Covid. Everything shut down, no facilities and nothing to do – no wonder they end up taking a wrong turn and find themselves getting into difficulty. The Government has to do more for deprived areas to look after the kids and their mental health.
Too many people are calling gardaí in response to children hanging around. What’s that going to do? They are not doing anything. We have to let kids be kids. Too many busybodies around.
The idea that Dublin is not safe is ridiculous. I live in Dublin and am out and about and never have any trouble. People just like to moan and whinge. Just keep to yourself and keep your head down and you won’t have any trouble. James Russell, Co Dublin
I’ve seen gangs of youths roaming about, some on bikes blocking footpaths, shouting, using foul language in the city, spitting at people and stealing bikes, terrorising visitors in St Anne’s Park. They all appear to be 13 to 16 and become very aggressive if challenged.
It’s a frightening feeling of vulnerability in Dublin now. What is needed is a more visible police presence patrolling the streets with a zero-tolerance attitude. Everyone going through the courts system pleads some sort of ridiculous excuse. I travel a lot for my work, and was always proud of my city but I don’t encourage visitors any longer. It is too dangerous, hedonistic and out of control. Helen O’Kelly, Co Dublin
We set off from the airport by Dublin Bus at about 2am. Trip to O’Connell St went well; my partner then walked me to Eden Quay, before setting of to catch his bus on Aston Quay. Just across O’Connell Bridge, without warning and out of nowhere, a young male passer-by delivered a ferocious kick to my partner’s wheelie case, so that it swung into the air almost pulling his arm from its socket. The passer-by blithely continued on his way. Throughout our entire journey from the airport, there was not a garda in sight. Maura Eaton, Co Dublin
I work on City Quay, the boardwalk area is lovely with nice benches etc but it’s mostly unusable. In the evenings there are gangs of kids roaming the area intimidating passers-by. Drug dealing is happening in plain sight. Ann O’Rafferty, Co Dublin
> It’s a frightening feeling of vulnerability in Dublin now. What is needed is a more visible police presence patrolling the streets with a zero-tolerance attitude. Everyone going through the courts system pleads some sort of ridiculous excuse.
Well said. The usual fucking shit around **education** and **training courses** for lowlifes with a catalogue of convictions. The carrot has been fruitlessly tried; now apply the stick
I don’t even live in Dublin but I’ve visited a fair few times over the years for various reasons and I have to say I don’t really feel safe in Dublin a lot of the time.
Maybe I’m just a magnet for scum bags and anti-social behaviour but the amount of fights I’ve seen between shop staff and scumbags, or even just a fight out in the open I’ve seen is absolutely ridiculous considering how many times I’ve been there.
And that often even in the city centre or tourist areas which is even stranger. I’ve never felt like I was in danger at any point in any of the other touristy places of other cities I’ve been.
This prick:
> The idea that Dublin is not safe is ridiculous. I live in Dublin and am out and about and never have any trouble. People just like to moan and whinge. **Just keep to yourself and keep your head down and you won’t have any trouble**. James Russell, Co Dublin
The older I’m getting the more I tend to go for early drinks with friends, partially so I’m back home and tucked in bed early and also to avoid the chaos and madness that is late night town these days.
The first principle of peelian policing, from which tradition the gards stem, is the prevention of crime.
Modern police forces seem to have completely fallen into a reactive role, relying on cameras etc to address crime after it has already occurred, and then spending endless hours doing bureaucratic busy work rather than being out on patrol in the places and at the times at which crime occurs and being visible to the public that they’re supposed to be liaising with.
The second principle is gaining public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and ability to secure public respect. I would argue this is slipping pretty quick.
I lived in Warsaw before moving to Dublin last year.
There’s gangs and kids and whatever there too.
But the police seem to have some PRESENCE in Warsaw.
When there’s coppers walking, you know that nobody would fuck around. There’s always a pair of them on foot patrolling the city centre, shadier parks, or wherever.
And if you feel a bit threatened, you know that there’s always someone around.
It was quite a shock for me to see that there’s 0 Garda presence here in dublin. I rarely see a Garda car or some Garda patrolling, especially in typically troublesome areas.
I’d like to carry some pepper spray or something to defend myself if I get into trouble but I heard they are illegal here.
Can’t have something to defend yourself. No Garda to defend you. What are we meant to do?
[removed]
We need **more Gardaí in Dublin on bikes**. Patrolling is typically done by either a pair of Gardaí on foot or a pair of Gardaí in a car. You need foot patrols, but they are necessarily limited in the ground they can cover. Works for the dense inner city, it’s shit enough once you leave that area and go to even the inner suburbs. There you see Gardaí use cars for patrolling, which isn’t ideal. It limits their interaction with what’s going on at street level, they essentially have to make a choice to stop and get out if they see something that needs their attention, which raises the threshold for interaction.
One thing our Gardaí are good at is community policing, which is something much more easily done on a bicycle than in a car.
>Bicycle patrol is associated with *more contacts with the public and higher rates of proactive policing when compared to motor vehicle patrol and bicycle officers are more likely to rate higher on several measures of crime control.* Officers with a COP mandate engage with the public for a wider variety of reasons compared to those with a reactive mandate, and are more likely to rate higher on perceptions of performing job duties in a procedurally just manner.
>https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15614263.2017.1364998
James Russell should say the exact same thing again he said about Dublin city to Urantsetseg Tserendorj’s Husband. Russell is more than a gobshite. he is a very stupid and tone deaf man. Myself and my friends have been attacked before and we are always quiet and never try to cause trouble or provoke anybody. I hope for his sake nobody attacks his loved ones but at the same time if it does happen, he’ll get a wake up call
In my local area, there was a bunch of kids/teenagers hanging out on a corner. Shouting at people or playing chicken with their bikes where they cycle directly at you until you move or they hit you. There was a squad car driving by with the sirens on (to a different area). All the kids ran like crazy in all directions. 2 minutes later they all came back. So even if the guards were coming for those kids, what are they meant to do if they all fuck off when they show up, then all reappear once they go.
Needs to be some sort of juvenile criminal system. One of the comments talked about a group of teenagers with weapons squaring off in George’s Dock. Surely that’s the kind of thing where you identify and round up those kids on the spot or after the fact. Charge them with assault using a weapon and they go off to Juvenile detention for a few months. Setting zero boundaries and letting people feel like they can do whatever they want is just going to cause more trouble. You’ll always have scumbags but at least with some sort of penalties, some of them might think twice.
It’s not just about serious crime either, it’s also about intimidation/fear. Nobody wants to live somewhere that people think they are above the law, that they can’t be challenged and there’s no penalty to whatever they want to do to you or other people.
Dublin is a lawless toilet. Tourism Ireland should be sued for promoting it as a tourist destination.
What’s to blame? Low policing numbers, weak sentencing guidelines paired with political cowardice when it comes to building a new prison.
People can want more enforcement all they want, but until the judicial system actually does something about the genuine cases of crime (and I don’t just mean “lock them all up” like some people want), I’m not sure what else the guards can realistically do. It’s probably demoralising for them. Like what’s the point of arresting someone, etc., if they’re back at it later that day with no difference made?
As for young people just acting the bollocks or hanging around in groups but not actually doing anything overly bad, in that case I think people just have to stop being so nervous around working-class kids.
I feel like such a moaner leaning into a conversation like this. But this is an issue that wrecks lives and reduces the quality of life in our cities.
The only solution, as I see it (and I know nothing), is more aggressive policing coupled with encouraging the public to not accept anti-social behaviour of any kind – even things like graffiti, drinking on the streets or petty vandalism.
To be honest, I think as Irish society gets ‘richer’, there is more of a gap between people on the bottom and top. Crime will continue to increase.
It will get like the states if we keep going the same way.
Ah I get to post my favourite anecdote again!
I’m working in the Abbey Theatre at the time. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and his wife are visiting. He has an entourage of security personnel inside the foyer with him while he meets the front of house staff.
12 feet away, outside the glass doors and visible to everyone are 2 junkies knocking lumps out of each other, in front of our president.
Across the street are 2 Garda standing under a shelter. It’s raining. They’re pointing and laughing at the junkies.
I’ll never forget it.
The area around mountjoy is chaos – hoards of dodgy teenagers, Roma gypsies, drug addicts, alcoholics. What the guy says about fitzgibbon Garda station is completely true – it’s literally round the corner and you never see them anywhere.
Great another “ Dublin is a shithole/hellhole/gone to the dogs” post. Always a good time.
I got spat at, I tackled the under 18 year old, I got a suspended sentence of 6 months from Judge Fahy of Galway for defending myself.
A lot of the comments here are blaming a lack of Gardai in the city centre which is a fair point.
Another aspect is the criminal justice system. Juveniles who are not suitable for the JLO scheme are dealt with in the children’s court in Smithfield.
Many of the cases there are drawn out with a significant amount of remands therefore taking a long time to conclude. Many of the cases result in the youth being given a probation order (attending meetings with a probation officer) or a suspended sentence which is essentially a slap on the wrist.
Even IF they get a short sentence in Oberstown Children’s Detention Campus (not allowed call it centre or prison) it is not much of a deterrent.
Many repeat offenders even have a garda case manager who tries to group their cases together and notify the court of bail breaches. Even still it is rare bail is revoked.
A lot of these thugs are out stealing bikes phones scooters, earning cash in the drug trade and have become reckless without any consequences. In a lot of cases there’s no parents or decent home environment. Many of them turn 18 and start staying in hostels around the city centre.
Another observation is the Garda Commissioner seems to avoid criticism when it comes to this issue. As he moves towards a more UK style of policing, less police visible on the streets is to be expected.
Over the last ten years, people in the UK have seen a large reduction of officers on the beat as resources have been put into other aspect of policing. This is from the Institute for government in the UK:
*This steep increase in complex and violent crimes means that deploying additional police on the streets may not be appropriate, with these crimes often requiring more substantial involvement from other types of police staff including those working in operational and business support.*
The attitude over there is not to invest in more officers on the beat to tackle similar issues we are facing.
Is it more lawless than 2001?
This should be bread and butter vote winning stuff for FG. I’m baffled why they are ignoring it.
It’ll break anyones heart to see an area they may have called home being turned to shit.
It is not a lack of Garda but the judicial system is to blame for this state of affairs.
Young criminals feel unpunished with many crimes under their belt.
They are too young or they will show up in court with their parents and the judge says they must get another chance, and another.
Young thugs laughs at Garda’s face because they knows that they’re untouchable.
Only the inevitability of punishment would force them to change their behavior.
I can’t really stand people whose point is; ‘what they’re saying is wrong, it’s not unsafe’.
If you tell me it’s unsafe in Ballygobackwards my response will be, ‘is it really?’. I don’t just argue and deny other peoples’ experience like they’re lying.
These people are blocking the way of any progress. I don’t get attacked cos of my size and physique but I do see it happening and I talk to people who are victims of this kind of lawlessness.
It’s not made up, it’s not a lie. It’s a huge problem.
I blame the law society and the judiciary, their elitist arrogance and I dare say corruption in profiting from this revolving door system is leaving Dublin in dog shit. All well for them, so fuck all the rest of us. The arrogance to act like we’re somehow not smart or understanding enough is a joke. I do not feel some middle class guilt for someone else’s aimless violent criminality.
We’re all being made fools of here. Maybe locking people up doesn’t cure their criminality, but it does remove violent parasites from the street, which I’m A-OK with.
I think a major problem is that these gangs are/feel untouchable because due to an extremely laxed court system and conviction process there is little to no reason for them to feel otherwise.
You hear it in the news every day, “the gurrier appears in court today aug 2022 for an assault the night of Jan 4th 2014 he… has 86 previous convictions… Came from an impoverished area, problems at home.. 4 year sentence 3 years suspended” its a joke shop. And if they get sent to the joy sure that’s crim school they come out with a new network of toerags, schemes and the rest.
I genuinely don’t blame the gardai. I think about the young lad nearly kicked to death recently in mayor Square, a gang of youths. If two gardai walked around the corner and there was 15 young lads battering someone there is eff all they could do, their power, their one thing is their authority. If the toerags they are coming up against don’t respect that, they have no cards to play. Imagine a group of 17-18 year old thugs hanging out intimidating people and a 5ft 3, garda and her 21 year old skinny malinksmalojin partner rock up and tell them to move on. They’d be laughed out of the place. I remember seeing the cops in Spain when I was a youth o lads holidays and they carrying assault rifles, grenades, god knows what else with German shepherd’s and I can tell you the last thing on my mind was to fuck around and find out.
Don’t get me wrong I’m sure they have plenty of problems due to arming the police. But I’d say they have a lot less young guys acting the bollox.
Little to no consequences for offenders, free legal aid, solicitors cleaning up on the back of the tax payer, lack of garda presence in city centre hotspots, wasting garda resources (busting small time cannabis users or checking tax on cars at 6pm on a monday), judges that do not care, outdated sentencing system, parents with no control and an unwillingness to take responsibility, broken homes, suspended sentences.
These are all contributing factors. This has been brewing for some time and now we are seeing things boil over.
People like to hold up other countries, in particular the US, and say “well it could be worse” and it’s not that bad in Dublin comparably speaking.
I’d never move back. Never felt half as unsafe here as I did in Dublin the last 3 years before I left (2019-2021). The one comment there about “an edge” and tension in the city is spot on. Those in power lack the will to fix it or even try. Vigilante justice can’t be far away.
There is a severe lack of consequences for such scummy behavior by these youths. Noone ever gets punished. Even crimes committed clear as day on CCTV for the nation to see don’t result in anything. It makes me ashamed of Dublin.
Live and work in the centre of a city, saw a Garda tonight for the first time in at least 11 days. I know that for sure because its the first time I’ve seen the new uniforms.
I thought that Thiago would have been a turning point and every day I am disappointed it wasn’t. It will take a politician being murdered on our streets before they ever care to look at this problem, unfortunately most of them live in a detached reality where they never need to step foot in areas with this problem or if they do they can do so with protection not afforded to the average person.
Dublin is 100% getting worse.
Ive had Brazilian mates attacked because scrotes presumed they were part of the deliveroo rider drugs gang. Areas like tallaght and finglas becoming rampant with attacks on randomers.
Women being leered at and sexually assaulted around south circular and clonskeagh by muslim migrants.
That muslim nutjob who murdered lads on grindr in Sligo.
Political polls showing populist, racist parties surging in votes.
Its really gone to the dogs
Was up in Dublin last Monday with one of the kids for shopping and a gig. The amount of open drug use in broad daylight was a bit of a shocker tbh. Never seen it as bad.