O’Connell Street has been left to deteriorate with open drug dealing and fighting according to business owners and street traders. Plans for a new Garda station have been announced for the capital's main thoroughfare to be established in the coming months.
It’s expected two policing operations to deal with anti social behaviour and drug dealing – will be run from the new garda station at a former citizens information office near the Savoy cinema.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee told a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting the premises on 13A O'Connell Street will be made available to the gardai. There was previously a Citizen's Information office at the site.
The Fine Gael Minister also said Operation Citizen, which targets antisocial behaviour and promotes garda visibility in the city centre, will now run seven days a week rather than at weekends only.
Minister of State Joe O’Brien said he and the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee utterly condemned the “deplorable violent acts” that had taken place over recent weeks and that people should be able to feel safe whether they live or work in Dublin or were visiting the capital city.
Operation Citizen, Operation Spire – which specifically targets anti social behaviour and drug dealing on O’Connell Street – will be run from the new station. It has been mooted that Victim Support may be run from the new station as well.
Since its inception, Operation Citizen has focused on public order, assaults and high volume crime in the city centre with 1,114 persons charged to date and almost 6,000 High-Visibility beats taking place.
Prowling Gangs
Meanwhile gangs of youths “immune to apprehension” are “prowling Dublin city” at night looking for people to assault according to Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan.
Mr O’Callaghan said the yobs are “misogynistic towards women, homophobic towards gay people” as they target men in their late teens, 20s or 30s either on their own or with just one other person.
On Wednesday, the Dublin Bay South TD told the Dáil that there was a “dangerous level of unprovoked and gratuitous violence” being perpetrated against people who are socialising in Dublin at night.
A 23-year-old man on Dame Street was assaulted and had his eye socket fractured, an Italian man was also assaulted and a 24-year-old Englishman was left injured on D’Olier Street.
“We need to understand that part of the solution is that Dublin needs to become more like other European cities,” he said.
“If you go to other European cities you see a good number of policemen patrolling those inner cities at nighttime. We don’t have enough gardaí on the streets at night time.”
“I want to see them out patrolling the inner city, mfear is that we’re not going to get a strong enough response until regrettably a tourist is killed in this city.
“If it isn’t checked or challenged, Dublin is going to get a terrible name as a place of violence, it will damage our tourism industry and it will also damage us as a place for foreign direct investment.”
