Violence on Dublin’s streets has become a key talking point over the last number of weeks. The debate was initially sparked after an American tourist was left with life-changing injuries in a city centre attack, which prompted widespread outrage on social media.
In reaction to the public’s safety concerns, there have been repeated called for an increase in Garda numbers patrolling the capital’s streets, while Minister for Justice Helen McEntee revealed that the gardaí would again miss their recruitment targets for the coming year.
Looking to gauge public sentiment off the back of these events, The Irish Times put out a call to readers asking for their own experiences of Dublin city centre, and whether or not they themselves had been the victims of violence.
Silvia Simioni, who lives in Mountjoy Square, described living in fear despite being situated next to a Garda station. “The door of our building has already been broken into for the third time, my husband’s electric bike and another bike from a neighbour were stolen. Every time we leave our apartment to work, we put all our valuables in the room and lock it with another key to ‘soften’ the risk of being robbed,” she said.
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I have lived in London, Paris, Rome, Munich, Buenos Aires, Harlem in New York and Chicago ... Dublin is by far the city where it is most likely to get physically assaulted
Silvia added, “We feel scared every day and feel insecure about living here, we have already tried to look for another apartment in another location, but with the real estate crisis we still haven’t found another apartment”.
Similarly, public transport worker Partap opened up about his dealing with racist remarks. “Almost every day during my work I have to take a walk in Dublin and always have to choose a different road or path to avoid thugs and junkies. If I do come across them they will want to have a chat which is mainly asking for a fag or money and if you don’t offer anything then you are met racial comments”.
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A number of readers had not experienced, but rather witnessed antisocial activity themselves. Carolina Libardi from Fairview, observed a group of youths engaging in violent behaviour last November along Sean O’Casey Bridge. “I saw two groups of around 10 teenagers that were screaming racial slurs to each other on each side of the bridge, until of them threw a hammer at the other side and nearly caught a passerby. Mind you this happened at 7pm with plenty of people walking through the bridge.”
Another reader, Hannah from Drumcondra, also experienced young teenagers dealing drugs along Exchequer Street. “They appeared high themselves as they ranged about the street shouting and summoning various drug users to them,” she added. “I view these youths as victims of the state’s under-resourcing and lack of innovation on many pressing social issues (…), but that night, it felt truly unsafe and the law did not exist”.
Many readers were of the viewpoint that Dublin has become considerably more unsafe over recent years, with some pinpointing the Covid-19 pandemic as the flash point. Hannah also discussed this, raising safety concerns stemming from the lack of taxis available in the city centre.
“The shortage of taxis in the city post-Covid creates another safety concern. Getting a taxi at the end of the night is not guaranteed. When you already feel unsafe on the streets, this is a big concern. Many times over the last two years I have had to walk 45 minutes home or get a Bleeper bike. I’m sorry to say as a woman in her 30s, it puts me off socialising in town without my partner or others for safety on the journey home”, she said.
Why would anyone respect the city and its people when those running it do not?
Other readers from far flung places also got in contact, remarking how they felt far safer abroad than in their native Dublin. Liam O’Connell, who presently resides in Illinois, said that, “I have also lived in London, Paris, Rome, Munich, Buenos Aires, Harlem in New York and Chicago as a resident. In my opinion, Dublin is by far the city where it is most likely to get physically assaulted.
“I have experienced many such situations either personally or as a witness, particularly when pubs close, even though I am a 6-foot big guy. In over 35 years outside of Ireland I have been aggressively approached by only two men, both of whom were native Irishmen. In general, Irish people have a well-deserved reputation for being a friendly people, but there is a vicious, dark side,” he said.
Peter, who recently emigrated to London, echoed this sentiment by saying, “I live in inner city London now and I find it way safer. I’m happy I don’t live in Dublin any more”. He added, “I have been to Singapore, Hong Kong and several other Asian and Middle Eastern cities where there is literally zero tolerance of this type of crime – and rightly so. We require a far more severe punishment regime for these offenders.
“I frequently took the Luas red line and it was an extremely unpleasant experience. It was full of loud mouthed young men (and sometimes women), either drunk or under the influence of drugs. I have seen fights taking place, oftentimes with completely innocent bystanders attacked for little or no reason,” he said.
Michal Harty, who is retired garda now living in Montreal, Canada, recounted how different contemporary Dublin is to the city he once knew, and said how his recent trip home was “very different” to the inner city he formerly patrolled. “What did strike me though was that we saw no Gardaí on the streets the whole time we were there,” he added.
Barry Lyons, a solicitor based in Dublin’s North Inner City, offered his viewpoint that the recent escalation in violence and antisocial behaviour was a knock-on effect from authorities’ inefficient policymaking.
“It is like the people in charge hate the city and its citizens. Add absent policing, no joined up drug abuse management policy, poor design, enforcement and execution of signage in the public realm, and the city is a disgrace,” he said.
“Why would anyone respect the city and its people when those running it do not?”