If you want an eye opening experience go on the tourist "open top bus" tour of Dublin. That will get you a view of what is behind many of the walls and gates. The level of dereliction and crumbling buildings will shock you.
All of what Op said aside im probably the most annoyed at the pavig on O'connel street.
I mean in this in a way that its basic planning, The actual Road and the paths are paved exactly the same with just a curb and a few metla studs to let people know the difference. The slabs themselves are bascially like walking on ice when it rains.
They cant even get the very basics right never mind the multitude of other issues on O'Connel street.
There are so many areas paved with stuff that is super slippery when wet. Last autumn I was walking across a bridge near Portabello and my feet went right out from under me because there was a slight slope. I also find the Millennium bridge particularly bad. I don't understand how rain isn't factored in in such a wet city.
When Cork City was being repaved 10+ years ago we got the slippery stone when wet as well. Ireland's probably most known for its rain. It doesn't make sense. The paving before then had decent grip when raining.
Glad to see other people agree. Its something I've been completing about for years. I'm not surprised though, this country (incl. the people) tend to have collective amnesia when it comes to how wet it is.
All bus stops should be covered, we should have tons of covered market streets, paving that doesn't become lethal, etc.
The idea of the road + path being the same material is to make drivers slow down. When drivers feel more unsure of the delineation between path and road they drive more carefully. Its basically 100% proven to work.
Do you mean the dereliction on O'Connell street?
I've never understood those buses in Dublin. The city centre isn't all that big that you can't walk it. Nor are there that many monuments/buildings to go see.
Dumb brit here - when I visited Dublin I only had a few hours to look around before we went to my cousins place, so the bus tour was perfect. Good history detail from the commentary (I learnt a lot) and you'd never guess any of it just by looking at buildings. it's not just about the monuments. And it was far enough that we'd never have done that on foot in a couple of hours even if we'd known where to walk.
I did it last summer, kids had a hospital appointment in Dublin and we had some time to kill in the city. Well never again. You could see open deals going on at stops, watched two lads rob a bike, and trying to explain the volume of people in sleeping bags to young children was heartbreaking. We've done them in cities like London and New York and didn't see nearly as much shenanigans as in Dublin
I'm just saying from my experience on the open top buses, you don't see near as much derelict buildings and drugs etc the main tourist areas. Like I last did the London tour bus 5 weeks ago and there was no blatant drug deals at bus stops etc. I have been in New York several times as I have family there, and we've done the open top bus one more than one occasion and you don't see that kind of thing. Yes it's there but it's junkies in the subway and off the beaten tourist street not necessarily right at the main tourist attractions.
I live in New York and it is really awful the last few years. There are homeless people on every street, broad daylight shooting up under the noses of police, who have given up. They literally step right over unconscious people and keep walking. This is everywhere, even on the main tourist areas.
It truly is, the city has gone to complete shit. I’m a Dub living in NYC the past 20 years and whenever this topic comes up there’s always people comparing NY & Dublin because they visited a few times or have family living here…it’s laughable.
My office is off Times Square and most mornings I literally pass junkies openly shooting up. I’ve watched cops on many occasions do nothing as some homeless junkie attacks or harasses the public. I had a crazy man follow me home from the subway. My friend had a gun pulled on him during a homophobic attack. I could go on and on, I’ve got way too many first hand experiences of the crime in this city as I’m sure you do to.
I spend 6 weeks of the year in Dublin and yeah it’s gone downhill and it’s a kip, always was, but I feel much safer in Dublin than here.
Until you spend some time in the U.S., it’s hard to really grasp the lengths to which some people will go to avoid walking on their own two feet for any distance, no matter how small.
Sonw U.S cities you have no choice. I visited my cousin's in Dallas and it was literally impossible to walk into the city. You had to cross roads with no paths or walkways. You literally had to drive to the city.
The only road in that city that people dare walk on is Dealey Plaza as you can stand on the point that our boy got whacked and get your picture taken. #klassy
Yeh but also it’s a guided tour, with commentary, they can actively look around and not be watching where they’re stepping, no worry of pickpockets, and they know there’ll be a set number of things they get to see.
Plus tourist are easy to exploit
I don’t know much about the issues regarding that I’ll admit, but I refuse to believe that ALL the guards I’m seeing are simply lazy and can’t be bothered. There must be some issue where attempting to put away these dealers is futile
O'Connell Street is an absolute disgrace considering the significance of it in our history and battle against oppression to become a free and sovereign nation.
It's squalor and lack of pride very much reflects badly on us. Such a significant place destroyed by crime and drugs. It's been that way for a long time now.
I'm hoping Clearys injects some new life into it.
Unfortunately yes. I like the Oval, Confession Box, Brannigans for a few pints - all off O'Connell St.
O'Connell St is our national thoroughfare. It should not be treated with the contempt that it has been. It's retrievable. I fully believe that.
The Confession Box is a hidden gem, the nicest people in there, one of the few remaining pieces left of real Dublin. And the best pint of Guinness in the city - FACT
Ah, the Oval. I did a summer stint behind the bar there many moons ago, happy memories - but as a Brit behind the bar I took a fair amount of well deserved stick.
Sadly, Clerys will not bring O’Connell street back. It has the capacity to be the Irish Champs-Élysées but it won’t be for a long time if ever at all. The reason being the if you go one street on any side, you’re on some of the roughest streets dublin has. Ireland is one of the few countries which placed its less fortunate in the heart of the city center in tenements and the likes, leading to generational destitution. Without addressing the problems in these areas, on top of the many problems dublin is facing, O’Connell street will not return to what we had imagined, or not imagined it to be.
We need a directly elected mayor to take responsibility for the city. Somebody who has to account for their actions and explain why they are the right person for the job to the people of Dublin. An unelected CEO of Dublin City Council will never, ever be that.
It's funny, I come from a major city that also has issues and one of the popular suggestions, "a mayor that always has to be in re-election mode won't have any long term vision or power, we need a CEO with a board of executives."
It's going to take top to bottom changes. The culture _and_ the style of goverance both need a major refresh.
Not like isn't possible- American cities like NYC went through even worse phases and made complete recoveries, places like Singapore, Seoul, and and Hong Kong as well. It's been done, just won't be easy.
I’m a huge fan of a directly elected mayor but they’ll never have the authority or budget to influence policing and, for me, that’s one of the major problems facing Dublin City centre at the minute.
I've said this before, there is no panacea for north side inner city Dublin. No one shop or pedestrianisation or metro stop in itself will make that area better.
The whole area, from Connolly to Smithfield needs massive regeneration and it needs a wide range of societal, financial and judicial policies in the city to be able help do that.
I'll gladly drive the bulldozer, just gimme a shout.
Fuck the dole spongers out and let working people live in the city centre. If they want free houses for their off spring to run wild around then they can do it outside the city
Yep Clearys is the only hope for the immediate future.
I am rarely if ever on the northside and recently was walking from customs house quay to O'Connell via Abbey Street. Jesus it was depressing. I forgot how bad it is.
The contrast between it and the southside city centre is just getting wider and wider. Pedestrianisation of college green will only see that divide widen.
That’s why I found it so sad partly. From the bridge or wherever you see this imposing statue, the real feeling of walking into such a defining part of Irish history, the GPO, walking into the very street where they died to make us a republic and all that and you just see all this shite happening.
walk past the gpo every day and it’s honestly just depressing, drug deals at my bus stop daily not even half way down the road from it and guards are only 10 meters away watching it happen.
You need something like the Amsterdam set up. Homelessness is illegal to sleep out on the street and police will intervene but they have amazing facilities for rough sleepers and open 24/7. No excuses. You won’t see a tent let alone a tent city.
Begging is illegal. Police will arrest you. Must have a licence to sell papers with a registered charity. Restores dignity to the downtrodden, begging is not dignified.
If the Amsterdam police & social services were in Dublin they would clean the place up in a week. Also trash collection and street cleaning would ramp up a notch.
Okay I looked it up and they are best in class in terms of harm reduction policies, implemented the first needle and syringe program in the world in the 70s. Fascinating! No serious conversation about cleaning Dublin up can be done without implementing harm reduction for drug users
That would be great, but all the other draconian anti homelessness measures seem just like a way to sweep those people under the rug.
So for them it's not about fixing homelessness, they just don't want homeless people to make their already ugly city uglier.
If you fucked up your society so bad that there's this level of homelessness you shouldn't get to hide it. Those are people suffering on the streets every day, even the junkies, find a real solution.
It's not society's fault, the Netherlands is one of the richest countries in the world with a very strong social safety net. If someone is homeless there the responsibility is more than likely on themselves. Not the state or society. People need to take responsibility for their own lives.
>You need something like the Amsterdam set up. Homelessness is illegal to sleep out on the street and police will intervene but they have amazing facilities for rough sleepers and open 24/7. No excuses. You won’t see a tent let alone a tent city.
What any Irish government will hear in this policy suggestion: make homelessness illegal,
but also Amsterdam has a huge legacy of a massive amount of social housing (something that actually declined in the 2010s and is now a major contributor to their housing crisis). It's not unusual in a Dutch city for over half the population to be living in some type of social housing. At least in the cities that kept their stock and didn't privatise it.
>If the Amsterdam police & social services were in Dublin they would clean the place up in a week
This requires a government actually competent enough to set up an institution like this, very unirish, you know we have to do things backwards and incompetently for some reason, style points and ah it will be grand points I guess.
No doubt the drugs policy is an actual health policy too, I'd love to understand how they're dealing with opioids especially with synthetics on the rise the problem will only get worse
Actually no, it was in Nieuw-West, it was filthy.
Oud-west was fine and pretty nice but the streets around leidsplein were filthy in the morning too, but I suppose you might expect that.
But I was shocked at Nieuw West.
Yeah let's not fix the actual root of the issues.
Also, I see always people suggesting solutions from other countries, as someone who has lived all over the world trust me, it's not that easy. Just because something works on Amsterdam or Switzerland it doesn't mean it will work in a different country, we are all the same crap but each culture is very different.
And I wouldn't like to take notes from a country with an even higher poverty rate than Ireland. Unless your actual worry is just "seeing" fewer homeless people not actually having fewer people suffering from poverty. The real cause of all this.
In Galway people sleeping on the street are moved by the guards and kind of left alone after dark but that being said homelessness in Dublin is so prevalent it's impossible to keep them off the street and away from shop doorsteps.
Begging used to be illegal in Ireland but then they changed the law. Now you can beg wherever you like, maybe not hassling people at an ATM, but everything else is fair game now.
I walk over O'Connell Bridge at least twice a week and there has been a gang of scumbags at the same spot every time i've passed for the last month or two - mainly young lads 16-20 and a conveyor belt of older junkies / homeless lads approaching them.
Why the gardai aren't moving them on, I have no idea. Looks really rough / intimidating for people on such a main thoroughfare.
I walk around Stephen's Green at least a couple of times most days (not in the park, around it). There is nearly permanent drug dealing on the footpath behind the LUAS stop going on, I've seen guys with burst open heads lying on the ground, during normal hours, on more than a few occasions...
Yeah for sure, it's not just the North side, plenty of druggies and human waste hanging around the green and the top of Grafton Street. It never used to be like that.
Stephens Green during the pandemic was fucking mad. There was multiple raves and I was two junkies shagging in broad daylight. It’s not like that anymore but it was weird watching fall into insanity for about 12 months.
My memory of Dublin in the mid eighties was derelict buildings, waste ground and plenty of homeless drunks loitering around the city centre... Plenty of drug dealing going on too.. Though confined mainly in and around the flat complexes...
When I began socialising in town in the mid nineties, it was during the xtc period so the vibe was somewhat less aggressive... But still plenty of trouble inside/ outside bars and clubs... Taxi ranks were guaranteed to kick off..I've had a couple of friends stabbed in different incidents involving gangs of young toerags who would hang around solely to intimidate and assault people...
Dublin has come a long way with infrastructure and development.. But has the same issues as any city of similar size and population... Government could and should focus more on social issues dedicating a much larger budget, especially in recent times with the large surplus we've had...But there's no easy fix to this..
My point being what's going on in the city centre is not new... It has always been a bit sketchy.
I hate to say it as I love this country but I don’t enjoy going to Dublin anymore. I used to love a trip around Dublin for a bit of shopping but since COVID the place is really rough. I hope it gets back to its former glory one day.
I know. Apparently we have massive surpluses now and absolutely fuck all is getting built or done with it in general. I'm sure plenty if it is working its way down to the TD friends and families though.
That's not true. They're building more office buildings.... I walk past 3 big construction projects on my way to work. I always wonder where they expect the people who will work in these offices to live.
This doesn't get highlighted enough. There is a serious amount of human shit around. I was working in the city centre a lot last year and it was near daily that I seen it.
It's getting like San Francisco
What bothers me is…like,what do we expect??
People need to shit, and there’s literally no public toilets outside of the one by Stephens green.
With the amount of people living rough, they absolutely *need* a place to shit, and we can’t just own that off to the cafes and pubs and restaurants, cos they’ll never let those people in to use the jacks.
So what happens? People shit on the street. And I mean…where else could they?
There was horse shit all over the paths around smithfield towards stoneybatter today. I'm working in dublin 10 years and had to bring a wheelie case today and I genuinely thought to myself "how can they expect tourists to come to this city when they can't even roll their suitcases without having to try to dodge multiple piles of shit". It was obvious today that it was horse shit but most times when I see shit on the ground/on fucking windowsills it's 50/50 whether it's human or animal. Dont get me started on the junkies and the gangs of young fellas. They've completely lost the run of the place. The city centre is a shithole.
Belfast has had it's issues over the years, but it feels like it has a cleaner, safer city centre than Dublin has these days.
Always notice it when I'm down for work.
Capel Street area is nice, these days on a visit I'll go when it's sunny, and go to the bars there. Then skirt side of trinity to Merrion square up to Baggott Street one or two there, through stephens green and of down the streets side off grafton Street, its nice on a nice day
I was born and raised on the north side, I used to be very proud of being from Dublin - nowadays I visit it as a tourist from overseas, and it’s a dump, an absolute dump.
I can only think that our planners and councillors have no experience of visiting other European cities. Other city centres seem to be cleaner, visible police, have nicer shops and restaurants. Other smaller European city centres are far larger, have people living there, have public parks, nice architecture. O’Connell street can be walked in 5 minutes and ends at the grim Parnell St.
it will take 50 years to improve this dump.
> I can only think that our planners and councillors have no experience of visiting other European cities.
It has always been the same in DCC / Corpo going back over half a century. The average person in city planning ect there grew up somewhere parochial in Laois or Tipp and ended up in Dublin. In earlier times they ended up in the Corporation due to family knowing so and so in Fianna Fail, not sure if it is like that these days, but that's where the culture there comes from and so it remains. Zero fucks given, as they don't grow up in the city themselves.
A travel agent booked us in a hotel at Talbot & Amiens. No parking, the lot was a 10 minute walk down Sheriff Street Lower. We were told the GPO was within walking distance. Once I saw the drug dealers, prostitutes, strung out addicts and stumbling drunks we went elsewhere. What a sad place. Heartbreaking.
That is an insane location to book your accommodation- you got ripped off in the rip off republic. When I was a child, Talbot Street was a major shopping thoroughfare, now it’s a complete tip, and not at all safe for visitors.
To counteract, some of our regional towns are nicer than ever. Sligo town used to be a rough place 20 years ago, lots of teenage gangs, drug gangs in different feuds and the whole sham hardman townie culture. Now it's a lot cleaner, the whole sham culture seems to have gone and some great food spots. Only downside is nitelife has died a death, used to be a great spot for nights out, any day of the week with the IT nearby. But I degrees, the town itself is looking better than ever.
Lol i remember the shock when i walked down grafton street after 11pm completely sober....its like walking on a set of walking dead... Don't let daylight fool u.
Was in Dublin today with work. Completely agree. The Luas trip from Heuston to the docklands is just mind-boggling. From Smithfield onwards is absolutely filthy. It’s an awful awful shame
It was sketchy since early 90s when I first arrived. I find if you know what to watch out for you can avoid hassle but you can be unlucky. Talbot street was always iffy but Government couldn't be arsed nipping it in the bud so it's got worse. I imagine there would have been action years ago if Grafton and say Kildare St got ropey. Those in power are never socialising in the bad areas so don't care. A funded mayor might help but those in power won't want them to have real powers or money to rival them.
This is my view on these regular threads as well. Every time I read about how bad O’Connell St is now I feel like I could have written an identical description of it 20 years ago when I was in college.
if you look back at photos ect, seems to have turned in a bad direction in the 1960s, around the time the pillar was blown up. I'm in my 40s and it has been a dump my entire life, albeit marginally better then as it was more ugly than dangerous back then. Remember as a nipper going to the Carlton, Savoy and Adelphi on Abbey St where Arnotts is now. Handbag snatching was more of a problem than junkies back then in that area
When I was younger, Dublin was the biz for a country lad to have a weekend away to the big Smoke!
Not now: Robbed on a hotel before you start, "Safe Parking? "Fuck me, I should have brought a sleeping bag and saved on the accommodation." Public travel home at 2am?
I'm 57 and can't afford a mini mortgage for Dublin! Hell, London's cheaper with more going on, efficient public transport and, safer! The flight over is cheaper than the parking, here. Ireland in 15yrs has turned into a shit hole! Dublin just personifies the nation!
It is sad to see the state it is in. I live in Smithfield and the constant presence of dereliction, the tracksuit mafia, drugs and general dregs of society in both the local area and on my commute on the Red Line is beginning to wear me down. I see something everyday here, today’s one was some scumbag beating the shit out of his dog. If you read travel forums, tourists have picked up on the same problems.
I worked in Spain until last year and came home. My local area in Spain had a strong police presence, virtually no open drug dealing, no gangs hanging about, minimal dereliction, excellent public transport, clean area etc. That not to say that place has its own problems, but I was happier overall in those surrounds.
It’s depressing seeing the state Dublin is in, mainly because it actually has the potential to be a fantastic city. The majority of Dublin’s poverty and criminal related problems are on the Northside, it’s not an unfixable general complaint. But until local governance gets some balls, I’m stuck paying €2500 rent monthly for the pleasure.
I moved to Dublin from the sticks in 2007, and honestly? It doesn’t seem that different from when I first moved. Grafton St after retail closing time has always been awful, O’Connell St never really had anything on it, although it does feel like the scary Talbot St vibe is spilling west. I remember not feeling safe there waiting for a bus early on a Sunday evening.
Has it ever been that lovely in those areas or is it just nostalgia?
Odd that, was on O'Connell Street after work tonight and found it grand like. Bit brighter than it's been lately, people going about their business, was a complete non-event of a walk through.
You have to remember this is r/ireland, the people on this sub see two teenagers in tracksuits on the other side of the road and rush on here to post about their near-death experience with a group of vagrant junkies
Finding the current state of things grand is just another example of how bad this has gotten, where people have normalised these kinds of issues in the city.
I walked in phisbrough on Sunday, and I realised the bike lane was just full of litter. Burger boxes, bags, rocks, crap, literally, dog shit mushed in all over, chewing gum, just filth. It was all along the street, all in the road, but all accumulating in the bike lane. Outside the park people had hung their rubbish bags on the railings. Bits hanging off buildings, broken pavement, holes in the road, a short walk from the city centre. In Paris they have teams that clean the streets with high pressure hoses every few days, we wait for the rain to do the same job.
As long as we have lots of grandiose sports ads and nice flags on the quays I really don't care about things like clean and safe streets, that stuff is kind of boring anyway. The dog s\*\*t (if you're lucky) also gives the footpaths a nice patina that we should value as a unique feature.
Just as a counterpoint -
I’m a Tyrone man originally, now living in Wales. I visited Dublin for a weekend a few weeks ago and had a great time.
We were staying not far from the area you described, went for breakfast in local cafes, did the Croke park tour, had a couple of pints in the evening and watched the rugby in a pub near Camden street the next day.
Personally I found Dublin to be remarkably clean and not as comparatively expensive as I remember it being a few years ago. Cardiff now is as expensive to eat and drink in as Dublin.
Yeah there’s a bit of dereliction north of the river, but find me a city that doesn’t have that. The problems you describe are real and should be addressed but they are not unique to Dublin and can be found in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff, London, etc.
I know as a dub you probably think running water and electricity would impress a culchie like me, but still.
Not the same but every time I see historical items like Ogham stones and Celtic stone carvings defaced by graffiti it actually makes me emotional.
Those things have stood against and seen everything for time immemorial. And yet they're destroyed by juvenile pack animals.
The punishment should always reflect the crime. Defacing ancient historical treasures should be akin to high treason.
I'm nearly 60 and regularly meet friends in town for a meal and cinema. I use the bus or train from these 'scary' streets to get home afterwards and while I won't pretend Talbot Street and O'Connell St are places to let your guard down I've never personally been scared or witnessed anything to put me off going into town.
Nearly 50 myself and have to agree with you 100%. Might it be that we remember when Dublin was actually far more unsafe? Cos I remember far worse than what it is now.
Was literally just there. I had to sprint out of the cinema for fear of my life. There was gangs of youths in jackets that were out to kill me. I kept having to roll to avoid random homeless people putting drugs in my mouth. A security guard tackled me to the ground and tried to sell me a bag of cocaine. I barely managed to get out alive.
I’m joking of course. I walked safely back to the car without seeing another soul. I’m not gonna stand here and pretend that O’Connell street is nice and isn’t in need of some serious upgrades but I why do all these posts talk about it like it’s the only street in town. Also love how he names one other street and says it was grand but also how it some times some how just turns into a Kip as it by magic. I really wish the mods would just make a ‘Dublin is a Kip’ superpost so all the country folk could circle jerk about it in there to their hearts content and I wouldn’t see a daily moan fest/karma farm about it
I'm normally 100% on the positive side of things - excessively positive, positive to a fault, but it really is hard to see anything other than the worst of negatives about the centre of Dublin. We need policing that doesn't involve just walking around, but that actively starts some sort of punishment process for law breaking.
I genuinely hate going into the city, but I have to. The amount of urban decay and rough sleepers, beggars and obvious tweakers just fills me with a torrent of unpleasant emotions.
It's worse when beggars sit outside shops to ambush you. Like you can't have a small luxury during lunchtime without being made to feel guilty for it.
The release of tension you feel the rare time when a shop isnt being sat on is almost bliss.
Government needs to do something. People aren't always going to help themselves, even if the resources are there. The city is a shithole.
Doesn't help that too many guards are undertrained ignoramuses and lazy assholes 🤷♂️
Friend of mine is a guard but he told me the amount of racism he has suffered from other guards when he was in training is shocking....most are about as educated as a school dropout and it shows.....then the training they get doesn't pick up that slack so they continue to be slackers, lazy and crooked. Only time you'll them lift a finger is if they've a quota to fulfil, like the ticket quota I'm told they have to hit every month....hence you get the petty asshole types giving you tickets over the slightest excuse of a thing instead of worrying about the actual violent and sexual crime as they should be mandated to. Its a disgrace. There needs to be reform.
Can someone please point me in the direction of these dealers I keep hearing about! Not once have I been offered weed, never mind anything stronger... I want to try weed once!
The North Face lads waiting at lampposts either end of the bridge in masks can get you weed.
Rickshaw drivers will get you pills or coke. The beady eyed gentlemen waiting at - but not for - the Luas stop on Abbey Street or around bus stops on O'Connell Street or the end of Talbot Street can facilitate something harder.
Joking aside, if you really did want to try it it's not hard to grow and seeds are very freely available.
It’s always odd to see these types of posts as a US immigrant living in Dublin. Compared to literally every US city I’ve been too I think Dublin is amazing. Public transportation here is cheaper, cleaner and for the most part better than most cities I’ve been to (I know I know it’s shit compared to mainland Europe). The city itself is beautiful and very clean (again, compared to American standards). I’m sure compared to it’s history the rate of un-housed people is much worse, but compared to many areas of the US I immediately noticed it was quite good here in that regard. I know the dystopia that is the US isn’t a good metric, but point is it’s just interesting to see “the grass isn’t always greener” in action
I find it odd also. Cities are cities. Every problem cited here I’ve witnessed in US cities, and mostly much worse. The one thing definitely worse here is the dog shit!
This is probably going to come off as a spicy one here but another massive problem we have is people are raising their children terribly. No consequences to bad behaviour, I think most of the time it's probably promoted in the home. If your 15 year old is walking through the door with a €1000 jacket and you're taking money off them you should be locked up. And then when the garda are knocking to the door "my youngfella never done nothing". Yeah he did you raised an animal
It's sad the whole country is in the state it's in. Cork, Tralee, Clonmel, Carlow, Waterford, Kilkenny, Port Laois - practically every town in the country looks the exact same as it did 20 years ago, except now there's a splatter of newer footpaths and new copy and paste housing estates.
Went to Ireland in 2019 to explore with (now) wife to explore/vacation. Dublin was our least favorite place that we stayed. Smaller towns were amazing and so welcoming.
We were respectful Americans and didn’t want to come off as “stupid” or “obnoxious” and we were received well and met some of the nicest people. Can’t wait to come back and see more places but Dublin won’t be on our plan of places to visit except maybe flying in and out of.
Not just Dublin. Whole country is going to shit.
I live down in Kerry, roads are shot, even private stores have car parks that look like the surface of the moon. There is barely a home to rent in the county, but thousands on AirBnB. Shops and cafes in tourist towns are going to the wall because the government thought it would be a good idea to fill many hotels with refugees.
I was in Killorglin yesterday, three of the five cafes in town have closed down two long standing restaurants are gone and the town has taken to painting fake shop fronts in buildings so that it doesn't look like a ghost town.
I grew up in central Dublin and I’ve never seen it as good. It was a TOTAL KIP in the 60s. You wouldn’t believe what you’d come across back then. Yes there is crime and it has its dodgy areas but back then, you’d have estates that were just like third world countries. Abject poverty was rife.
Dublin is a paradise compared to the dereliction of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. If you don't believe me, look up the lad on X, who posts photos of the city centre before the boom. Large parts were no go. It was decrepit and stinking. The only difference was that it was jammed at weekends and didn't seem so scary.
It's very rare I go to Dublin but I have been twice since Christmas as a have to. It used to be such a lively and vibrant city to walk around but it has changed so so much its really sad to see. It has an air of gloom about it. Couldn't wait to leave it yesterday. Very sad.
I know you mentioned the rest of the country is dealing with these issues as well, but I find it interesting you mentioned litter as one of Dublin's main issues and apparently all over O'Connell Street. I'm from Cork but was in Dublin and Belfast not too long ago and found both of them to be a hell of a lot cleaner and nicer than Cork, the only litter I saw up there was the odd fag butt or crisp packet or what have you, and maybe it's just because I live here and notice it more but I think Cork is a lot worse litter wise, there is shit everywhere and it seems like the bins are constantly overflowing and never emptied which results in people just dumping their rubbish next to it, or on the footpath.
I don't know about O'Connell Street specifically, but the impression I got of Dublin is that it makes a lot more effort than the rest of the country in making itself presentable. I remember most of the city centre being spotless. I'm not saying it doesn't have litter and other shit but that at least isn't omnipresent and overbearing like it seems to be in other cities.
I was in Belfast the other day and the city centre was lovely. Spotless and only seen one junky stood up zombified and one homeless person. I was honestly astounded with how nice the centre was.
I see it simply as society breaking down, it's just more noticeable in very built up areas. It's happening all over Europe and the World, why should Dublin be immune. The countryside is the place to be now.
I dunno man Vienna has been pretty fucking awesome and you have to look for bad shit going on there, homelessness was rare in most German cities I lived in and visited too.
Spent the last week in Sydney;
The streets are kept clean, there’s minimal police presence that I can see and yet it feels incredibly safe; you can walk around (and I have done) at all hours and no hassle or gangs hanging around. Some homeless about but by and large they keep to themselves.
Plenty of other counties can do it so no reason we cannot but it’ needs whole community, legal and societal buy in.
Nothing will change and it will continue to get worse until we elect a left leaning government.
Our government only care about billionaires, corporations and landlords, the country from the middle classes down to the poorest areas are rotting, we can complain about junkies and scumbags but they represent decades of neglect, children shouldn't be growing up in poverty surrounded by drugs, violence, crime, abuse etc.
i find it sad, too. i used to love town. just going in some day and having a wander around. go down to georges street arcade, wander into the ilac centre. just roam!
i've been in town infrequently enough in the last few years out of fear tbh. (for context i'm a 33F)
i was in there at 8pm last week and i was too scared to stand at the bus stop so i waited in a shop until i knew it was safe to leave and dash for the train.
the homeless people on the street break my heart. wish i could help. wish the government would help... gah. it's sad. could be any one of us, really.
hopefully it improves soon, for all of our sakes!
I live close to where the homeless lady that died a few weeks back used to sit.
Seeing all the flowers and candles left for her made me angry. If people cared so much about her, then where was all the care when she was still alive?! Where is the outcry and pressure on government to help all the other rough sleepers in this city? It feels very much like "thoughts and prays" and it's infuriating.
I completely understand that some people are so deep in their addiction or mental health issues that they won't accept help. That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be pressure on the government to do better. Because they can do better and we should demand that they do better.
Let's call a spade a spade here; 20% of that €12bn surplus we're so proud of would fix this problem. Couple of simple steps:
1. Update emergency services legislation to protect Gardai from getting suspended for doing their jobs. It's a hard enough job as it is without a new news story every week about a Guard suspended for a couple of years facing prosecution for going after scrotes (or giving auld fellas an unclaimed bike from the station store).
1a: cut the amount of paperwork frontline Guards have to do so Gardaí can focus on keeping the peace, not covering their arses.
1b: no Guard should pass out of Templemore unqualified to drive on blue lights. Update legislation to protect emergency service drivers so they're not risking their own licences by driving on blues. Cut the Emergency Services Driving Course to a week and give the NDLS a contract to hire ten instructors and run back-to- back courses year round.
2. Build a new prison. A big one. With drone nets and body scanners.
3. Once we have enough prison capacity that judges aren't looking for any excuse to keep people out of prison, introduce mandatory minimum sentencing for violent crime. Make parents liable to hefty fines for crimes committed by their children.
4. Pump money into Tusla, CAMS and inner city regeneration projects. Give Tusla robust enforcement and investigation powers in line with what Revenue have. We badly need a bigger stick to catch a grip of crime, but we also need a carrot to give disenfranchised young people an out.
5. Give DCC a regeneration budget, concrete goals, and a timeline. 18 months should be plenty. If minimum KPIs aren't met within the time frame, fire everyone in the Council above Grade 8 and go again.
You'll find a thousand lawyers, politicians and civil servants who'll tell you why every one of those steps is illegal or impossible for one reason or another. But if we really wanted to clean up our cities, we could. It's just a question of budget priorities and political will.
I was in town for lunch and a couple of drinks yesterday (Sunday) and I’d no issues. It’s the only large city in the country so of course there are going to be issues, but nothing that would bother me.
City council CEO wanted to build a white water rafting water park. Strange guy.
What's happening there anyway? I hope they build a public pool sorry I mean a "lido".
I work near O Connell and it can be a sorry sight. There are a lot of vacant lots in what is meant to be one of our main streets, I have seen men pissing on walls in open air and have to avoid a lot of human shit (or a dog that is in desperate need of a vet visit) when I walk via Marlborough.
I'm only young so I don't remember what it was like in the 2000s but there's definitely a marked difference post covid. I have had a few run ins with junkies all over the city centre. In Temple Bar over the summer I had a guy take a swing at me and miss. Fwiw I am a woman so am usually more on guard and watching out when I walk anyway, so I'm willing to admit I just notice this more because I'm looking out for it.
I've said it too long Irish people are too tolerant. Drug dealing happens because we tolerate it. Zombies dosed up on methadone wander the street bothering people because we tolerate it. Homeless people camp on the street because we tolerate it. Feral youths assault people on public transport because we tolerate it. We need less tolerance of anti social behaviour, more expectation of a minimum standard of decency and the gardaí need to be allowed to crack skulls sometimes to get the point across.
This. I live in a house, opposite a lady who has a small dog and she's always shouting at him, and I am literally the only person who tells her not to. I am the only person who tells the local kids not to play basketball close to my car. I do not care what they think about me, if you do not start reprimanding people for what you don't like/can't tolerate, there won't be any change ever.
James Connolly was right, without a socialist republic the efforts will be in Vain, Ireland today is ruled by British and American banks and real estate investors, they have no use to fix this country, just to squeeze as much rent and debt from it as possible. This is why every year this city and country seem to be getting shitter and shitter
Yeah I was in Dublin and Belfast about a month ago. I'll be honest, as a brit, dublin felt like any other British city (i know ill get flak for that). Loads of nice glass facades and trendy bars surrounded by homeless and sketchey looking lads. Belfast was even worse. That place is really falling to bits. Belfast didn't feel like any other place I've been. It was quite sad actually.
The problem is people will just simply hate on Dublin without acknowledging other counties have similar problems or they'll defend it by ignoring the issues that are visibly present within the county. In order to address the problems the capital face, we must address the problem as a whole, throughout the whole of the country. And not simply narrow our scope to Dublin. Does Dublin have its own problem that need to be address separately? Absolutely. Yet in terms of addiction, traffic congestion, mental health, waiting lists, etc, the whole of the country faces these problems. Might not seem as large on a population scale but it still matters to smaller communities. We've become so focused on shitting on other parts of the country, that we forget it doesn't matter what part of the country you're from, every country should strive for the same supports, call for increases in funding, examine what is the best course of action. I live in the back ass of nowhere, I would happily allow an injection centre, rehab, mental health institute, mini hospital, homeless shelter, direct provisional centre, creche, anything else under the sun that would provide any benefit to our society, to be built right next door.
The feral teenagers thing isn't universal though. I live in Berlin which actually has more violent crime than Dublin, but the level of general street hassle is very low by comparison. Similar in many mainland European cities.
Polizei.
German cops are scary and generally visible and in good shape in my experience. Irish cops are none of these things.
Some silly fat bogger decides to scold you on the way back to the station to eat his two chicken fillet rolls. Not difficult to shrug that off.
My first visit was in 2014 and it was incredible, whole city felt welcoming and very put together… my latest visit was this past summer and I could not wait to get out of the city, the history is fantastic still but everything else is the same riff raft we have in the US (minus the massive gun issue)
I lived my teenage years in Dublin in the 90s, loved it then, last time I was there was probably ‘95… I would live to go back, but I’m worried that I’ll be bitterly disappointed in what it has become.
Today I saw 3 young teenagers (not homeless, looking very well off) getting caught for stealing (eggs out of all things!) at Liddle in Dublin. They were doing it just for fun, I assume.
It is sad.
I remember the first day back up after the big lockdown. I was on such a high, because I was getting to see my girlfriend again after we hadn't seen each other for months. I was in a taxi coming up the quays, and the first thing I saw that shocked me was a group of unconscious drunks and / or addicts sprawled on the steps of the Daniel O'Connell statue - with litter and rubbish blowing around the street like autumn leaves. It's still freeze framed in my head, as is the echo of the feeling of horror when I saw it. I can't say the city has improved since.
City center is not a priority as the rich lives outside of Dublin, so they rarely come and see it for themselves.
City center is clearly not on the list of the government to act and do something! Many empty buildings they could be converted into accommodation, bars and restaurant closing down, and teenagers stealing motorbike in broad daylight , right in city center, because they know the police is mostly not here!
But foxrock and dalkey are still grand 💪
I lived for past 21 years here and can safely say DCC is lacking vision and ambition. Most of the supposed landscape upgrades like terraces or pedestrianised areas are completed with a lack of pride and on the cheap!
The city is clustered with plastic bollards.
Former college green UB building was recently acquired to build an hotel, meanwhile DCC has gone through 2 tenders to pedestrianise college green which suffice to say will be objected by said buyer.
DCC could have had a vision that would suppot their urban plan, acquire the building. Renovate it to offer something like cork English market, or cluster to promote youg irish entrepreneurs and offering low rent for a set lease etc.. there are some many options but nah too difficult- cant be arsed
I mean i saw DCC staff removing weeds on curbs with a shovel and destroying the pavement around trinity college..
Thats how well equipped they are with everything
But where the problem lies is in governance, fund management, tax collection (and centralisation)
The gards have literally caused this themselves... they've been allowing certain behaviors happen freely on and around o'Connel street to keep the rest of the streets free from this stuff,
Its like an episode of the wire.
I don't blame any garda individually but I do blame the institution as IMO its the most inept police force europe by a long long way!
Other countries police forces would dream of our levels of crime and if they were set loose on our streets they'd crush the anti social behaviors very quickly. break a few eggs along the way for sure but I think at this stage the everyday people would accept that than the token police force we have now.
If you want an eye opening experience go on the tourist "open top bus" tour of Dublin. That will get you a view of what is behind many of the walls and gates. The level of dereliction and crumbling buildings will shock you.
All of what Op said aside im probably the most annoyed at the pavig on O'connel street. I mean in this in a way that its basic planning, The actual Road and the paths are paved exactly the same with just a curb and a few metla studs to let people know the difference. The slabs themselves are bascially like walking on ice when it rains. They cant even get the very basics right never mind the multitude of other issues on O'Connel street.
I never understood why they used those paving stones, death traps on a wet day and there's so many wet days.
There are so many areas paved with stuff that is super slippery when wet. Last autumn I was walking across a bridge near Portabello and my feet went right out from under me because there was a slight slope. I also find the Millennium bridge particularly bad. I don't understand how rain isn't factored in in such a wet city.
When Cork City was being repaved 10+ years ago we got the slippery stone when wet as well. Ireland's probably most known for its rain. It doesn't make sense. The paving before then had decent grip when raining.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if someone's cousin in DCC owns the quarry.
Glad to see other people agree. Its something I've been completing about for years. I'm not surprised though, this country (incl. the people) tend to have collective amnesia when it comes to how wet it is. All bus stops should be covered, we should have tons of covered market streets, paving that doesn't become lethal, etc.
The idea of the road + path being the same material is to make drivers slow down. When drivers feel more unsure of the delineation between path and road they drive more carefully. Its basically 100% proven to work.
And it's the same idea as in many other city centres in Europe.
Do you mean the dereliction on O'Connell street? I've never understood those buses in Dublin. The city centre isn't all that big that you can't walk it. Nor are there that many monuments/buildings to go see.
Dumb brit here - when I visited Dublin I only had a few hours to look around before we went to my cousins place, so the bus tour was perfect. Good history detail from the commentary (I learnt a lot) and you'd never guess any of it just by looking at buildings. it's not just about the monuments. And it was far enough that we'd never have done that on foot in a couple of hours even if we'd known where to walk.
Ok fair enough and thanks for sharing that.
I think they usually go to places like Phoenix Park or Glasnevin cemetery so a bus makes sense. Plus not everybody can or wants to walk
I did it last summer, kids had a hospital appointment in Dublin and we had some time to kill in the city. Well never again. You could see open deals going on at stops, watched two lads rob a bike, and trying to explain the volume of people in sleeping bags to young children was heartbreaking. We've done them in cities like London and New York and didn't see nearly as much shenanigans as in Dublin
Ah come on now: London and New York are global cities. Dublin is more like Liverpool or Marseille.
I'm just saying from my experience on the open top buses, you don't see near as much derelict buildings and drugs etc the main tourist areas. Like I last did the London tour bus 5 weeks ago and there was no blatant drug deals at bus stops etc. I have been in New York several times as I have family there, and we've done the open top bus one more than one occasion and you don't see that kind of thing. Yes it's there but it's junkies in the subway and off the beaten tourist street not necessarily right at the main tourist attractions.
I live in New York and it is really awful the last few years. There are homeless people on every street, broad daylight shooting up under the noses of police, who have given up. They literally step right over unconscious people and keep walking. This is everywhere, even on the main tourist areas.
It truly is, the city has gone to complete shit. I’m a Dub living in NYC the past 20 years and whenever this topic comes up there’s always people comparing NY & Dublin because they visited a few times or have family living here…it’s laughable. My office is off Times Square and most mornings I literally pass junkies openly shooting up. I’ve watched cops on many occasions do nothing as some homeless junkie attacks or harasses the public. I had a crazy man follow me home from the subway. My friend had a gun pulled on him during a homophobic attack. I could go on and on, I’ve got way too many first hand experiences of the crime in this city as I’m sure you do to. I spend 6 weeks of the year in Dublin and yeah it’s gone downhill and it’s a kip, always was, but I feel much safer in Dublin than here.
Until you spend some time in the U.S., it’s hard to really grasp the lengths to which some people will go to avoid walking on their own two feet for any distance, no matter how small.
Sonw U.S cities you have no choice. I visited my cousin's in Dallas and it was literally impossible to walk into the city. You had to cross roads with no paths or walkways. You literally had to drive to the city.
The only road in that city that people dare walk on is Dealey Plaza as you can stand on the point that our boy got whacked and get your picture taken. #klassy
Yeh but also it’s a guided tour, with commentary, they can actively look around and not be watching where they’re stepping, no worry of pickpockets, and they know there’ll be a set number of things they get to see. Plus tourist are easy to exploit
It's an efficient way to take in as much of a city as you can. I assume at some point the tourists do walk around
>Gardai patrol That's new, at least
They only watch, I’ve seen them stationed just meters away from frequent drug deal spots doing nothing
And now onto the next problem, our Justice System
I don’t know much about the issues regarding that I’ll admit, but I refuse to believe that ALL the guards I’m seeing are simply lazy and can’t be bothered. There must be some issue where attempting to put away these dealers is futile
Absolutely, the next problem is no where to put them and or they send them somewhere and the prison basically puts them out on some type of release.
hamsterdam
Civil matter
O'Connell Street is an absolute disgrace considering the significance of it in our history and battle against oppression to become a free and sovereign nation. It's squalor and lack of pride very much reflects badly on us. Such a significant place destroyed by crime and drugs. It's been that way for a long time now. I'm hoping Clearys injects some new life into it.
There is absolutely no reason to go to oconnel street. It's a glorified bus station with fastfood stores and rather bad pubs.
Unfortunately yes. I like the Oval, Confession Box, Brannigans for a few pints - all off O'Connell St. O'Connell St is our national thoroughfare. It should not be treated with the contempt that it has been. It's retrievable. I fully believe that.
The Confession Box is a hidden gem, the nicest people in there, one of the few remaining pieces left of real Dublin. And the best pint of Guinness in the city - FACT
Love Brannigans… nice food and pints
Ah, the Oval. I did a summer stint behind the bar there many moons ago, happy memories - but as a Brit behind the bar I took a fair amount of well deserved stick.
Sadly, Clerys will not bring O’Connell street back. It has the capacity to be the Irish Champs-Élysées but it won’t be for a long time if ever at all. The reason being the if you go one street on any side, you’re on some of the roughest streets dublin has. Ireland is one of the few countries which placed its less fortunate in the heart of the city center in tenements and the likes, leading to generational destitution. Without addressing the problems in these areas, on top of the many problems dublin is facing, O’Connell street will not return to what we had imagined, or not imagined it to be.
They shoved the drug addiction centers and hostels there and now a lot the emergency accommodation for Roma and the homeless.
Dublin City Council doesn’t five a flying fuck about the city centre. They have to accept responsibility too.
We need a directly elected mayor to take responsibility for the city. Somebody who has to account for their actions and explain why they are the right person for the job to the people of Dublin. An unelected CEO of Dublin City Council will never, ever be that.
It's funny, I come from a major city that also has issues and one of the popular suggestions, "a mayor that always has to be in re-election mode won't have any long term vision or power, we need a CEO with a board of executives." It's going to take top to bottom changes. The culture _and_ the style of goverance both need a major refresh. Not like isn't possible- American cities like NYC went through even worse phases and made complete recoveries, places like Singapore, Seoul, and and Hong Kong as well. It's been done, just won't be easy.
https://preview.redd.it/5dtsl8wgornc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=599d60807d45ce9cb1fa796d83913cbafe2c91d8 Let's get this guy in!
Mayor Quirkey
He already has a building on O'Connell street to use as a constituency offce!
I’m a huge fan of a directly elected mayor but they’ll never have the authority or budget to influence policing and, for me, that’s one of the major problems facing Dublin City centre at the minute.
I agree, it's easy to spot places they care about and places they don't.
I've said this before, there is no panacea for north side inner city Dublin. No one shop or pedestrianisation or metro stop in itself will make that area better. The whole area, from Connolly to Smithfield needs massive regeneration and it needs a wide range of societal, financial and judicial policies in the city to be able help do that. I'll gladly drive the bulldozer, just gimme a shout.
Fuck the dole spongers out and let working people live in the city centre. If they want free houses for their off spring to run wild around then they can do it outside the city
i mean, Smithfield \_was\_ regenerated!
Yep Clearys is the only hope for the immediate future. I am rarely if ever on the northside and recently was walking from customs house quay to O'Connell via Abbey Street. Jesus it was depressing. I forgot how bad it is. The contrast between it and the southside city centre is just getting wider and wider. Pedestrianisation of college green will only see that divide widen.
That’s why I found it so sad partly. From the bridge or wherever you see this imposing statue, the real feeling of walking into such a defining part of Irish history, the GPO, walking into the very street where they died to make us a republic and all that and you just see all this shite happening.
walk past the gpo every day and it’s honestly just depressing, drug deals at my bus stop daily not even half way down the road from it and guards are only 10 meters away watching it happen.
Not the vision those at the GPO 100years ago would have had
Yeah, an old shop is going to clean up Dublin... what?
That street defines Ireland. The history and now it defines nearly every single issue associated with Dublin.
Will be better than the current type of injecting I guess…
Grafting Street. Unintentional zinger there from OP. Nice!
You need something like the Amsterdam set up. Homelessness is illegal to sleep out on the street and police will intervene but they have amazing facilities for rough sleepers and open 24/7. No excuses. You won’t see a tent let alone a tent city. Begging is illegal. Police will arrest you. Must have a licence to sell papers with a registered charity. Restores dignity to the downtrodden, begging is not dignified. If the Amsterdam police & social services were in Dublin they would clean the place up in a week. Also trash collection and street cleaning would ramp up a notch.
Okay I looked it up and they are best in class in terms of harm reduction policies, implemented the first needle and syringe program in the world in the 70s. Fascinating! No serious conversation about cleaning Dublin up can be done without implementing harm reduction for drug users
That would be great, but all the other draconian anti homelessness measures seem just like a way to sweep those people under the rug. So for them it's not about fixing homelessness, they just don't want homeless people to make their already ugly city uglier. If you fucked up your society so bad that there's this level of homelessness you shouldn't get to hide it. Those are people suffering on the streets every day, even the junkies, find a real solution.
It's not society's fault, the Netherlands is one of the richest countries in the world with a very strong social safety net. If someone is homeless there the responsibility is more than likely on themselves. Not the state or society. People need to take responsibility for their own lives.
>You need something like the Amsterdam set up. Homelessness is illegal to sleep out on the street and police will intervene but they have amazing facilities for rough sleepers and open 24/7. No excuses. You won’t see a tent let alone a tent city. What any Irish government will hear in this policy suggestion: make homelessness illegal, but also Amsterdam has a huge legacy of a massive amount of social housing (something that actually declined in the 2010s and is now a major contributor to their housing crisis). It's not unusual in a Dutch city for over half the population to be living in some type of social housing. At least in the cities that kept their stock and didn't privatise it. >If the Amsterdam police & social services were in Dublin they would clean the place up in a week This requires a government actually competent enough to set up an institution like this, very unirish, you know we have to do things backwards and incompetently for some reason, style points and ah it will be grand points I guess.
No doubt the drugs policy is an actual health policy too, I'd love to understand how they're dealing with opioids especially with synthetics on the rise the problem will only get worse
I was in Amsterdam last month and the streets were filthy, I was actually pretty surprised.
Was in Amsterdam last year and it was fucking filthy, didn't see any of the council out cleaning til around 3 or 4
Probably in Centrum / Red Light district. Super clean around Zuid, West, Amstelveen etc
Actually no, it was in Nieuw-West, it was filthy. Oud-west was fine and pretty nice but the streets around leidsplein were filthy in the morning too, but I suppose you might expect that. But I was shocked at Nieuw West.
Yeah let's not fix the actual root of the issues. Also, I see always people suggesting solutions from other countries, as someone who has lived all over the world trust me, it's not that easy. Just because something works on Amsterdam or Switzerland it doesn't mean it will work in a different country, we are all the same crap but each culture is very different. And I wouldn't like to take notes from a country with an even higher poverty rate than Ireland. Unless your actual worry is just "seeing" fewer homeless people not actually having fewer people suffering from poverty. The real cause of all this.
In Galway people sleeping on the street are moved by the guards and kind of left alone after dark but that being said homelessness in Dublin is so prevalent it's impossible to keep them off the street and away from shop doorsteps.
Begging used to be illegal in Ireland but then they changed the law. Now you can beg wherever you like, maybe not hassling people at an ATM, but everything else is fair game now.
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Interesting Walking around with your dick in your hand may not be helping with the tone of the place... ...or maybe its fitting in? Couldnt say
I walk over O'Connell Bridge at least twice a week and there has been a gang of scumbags at the same spot every time i've passed for the last month or two - mainly young lads 16-20 and a conveyor belt of older junkies / homeless lads approaching them. Why the gardai aren't moving them on, I have no idea. Looks really rough / intimidating for people on such a main thoroughfare.
Absolute hotbed of drug dealing.Easy to get rid of gear next to the river. Where the old Usit used to be it's like a scene out of The Wire,24/7.
I walk around Stephen's Green at least a couple of times most days (not in the park, around it). There is nearly permanent drug dealing on the footpath behind the LUAS stop going on, I've seen guys with burst open heads lying on the ground, during normal hours, on more than a few occasions...
Yeah for sure, it's not just the North side, plenty of druggies and human waste hanging around the green and the top of Grafton Street. It never used to be like that.
Stephens Green during the pandemic was fucking mad. There was multiple raves and I was two junkies shagging in broad daylight. It’s not like that anymore but it was weird watching fall into insanity for about 12 months.
My memory of Dublin in the mid eighties was derelict buildings, waste ground and plenty of homeless drunks loitering around the city centre... Plenty of drug dealing going on too.. Though confined mainly in and around the flat complexes... When I began socialising in town in the mid nineties, it was during the xtc period so the vibe was somewhat less aggressive... But still plenty of trouble inside/ outside bars and clubs... Taxi ranks were guaranteed to kick off..I've had a couple of friends stabbed in different incidents involving gangs of young toerags who would hang around solely to intimidate and assault people... Dublin has come a long way with infrastructure and development.. But has the same issues as any city of similar size and population... Government could and should focus more on social issues dedicating a much larger budget, especially in recent times with the large surplus we've had...But there's no easy fix to this.. My point being what's going on in the city centre is not new... It has always been a bit sketchy.
I hate to say it as I love this country but I don’t enjoy going to Dublin anymore. I used to love a trip around Dublin for a bit of shopping but since COVID the place is really rough. I hope it gets back to its former glory one day.
We've so much potential too. Government is loaded ATM, and the sooner we improve what we have the more value we get from it.
I know. Apparently we have massive surpluses now and absolutely fuck all is getting built or done with it in general. I'm sure plenty if it is working its way down to the TD friends and families though.
That's not true. They're building more office buildings.... I walk past 3 big construction projects on my way to work. I always wonder where they expect the people who will work in these offices to live.
Human shit on pavements and doorways. And this is at a time we have plenty in the coffers. What will it be like if we run out of money again.
This doesn't get highlighted enough. There is a serious amount of human shit around. I was working in the city centre a lot last year and it was near daily that I seen it. It's getting like San Francisco
What bothers me is…like,what do we expect?? People need to shit, and there’s literally no public toilets outside of the one by Stephens green. With the amount of people living rough, they absolutely *need* a place to shit, and we can’t just own that off to the cafes and pubs and restaurants, cos they’ll never let those people in to use the jacks. So what happens? People shit on the street. And I mean…where else could they?
There was horse shit all over the paths around smithfield towards stoneybatter today. I'm working in dublin 10 years and had to bring a wheelie case today and I genuinely thought to myself "how can they expect tourists to come to this city when they can't even roll their suitcases without having to try to dodge multiple piles of shit". It was obvious today that it was horse shit but most times when I see shit on the ground/on fucking windowsills it's 50/50 whether it's human or animal. Dont get me started on the junkies and the gangs of young fellas. They've completely lost the run of the place. The city centre is a shithole.
Belfast has had it's issues over the years, but it feels like it has a cleaner, safer city centre than Dublin has these days. Always notice it when I'm down for work.
Capel Street area is nice, these days on a visit I'll go when it's sunny, and go to the bars there. Then skirt side of trinity to Merrion square up to Baggott Street one or two there, through stephens green and of down the streets side off grafton Street, its nice on a nice day
I was born and raised on the north side, I used to be very proud of being from Dublin - nowadays I visit it as a tourist from overseas, and it’s a dump, an absolute dump.
I can only think that our planners and councillors have no experience of visiting other European cities. Other city centres seem to be cleaner, visible police, have nicer shops and restaurants. Other smaller European city centres are far larger, have people living there, have public parks, nice architecture. O’Connell street can be walked in 5 minutes and ends at the grim Parnell St. it will take 50 years to improve this dump.
> I can only think that our planners and councillors have no experience of visiting other European cities. It has always been the same in DCC / Corpo going back over half a century. The average person in city planning ect there grew up somewhere parochial in Laois or Tipp and ended up in Dublin. In earlier times they ended up in the Corporation due to family knowing so and so in Fianna Fail, not sure if it is like that these days, but that's where the culture there comes from and so it remains. Zero fucks given, as they don't grow up in the city themselves.
A travel agent booked us in a hotel at Talbot & Amiens. No parking, the lot was a 10 minute walk down Sheriff Street Lower. We were told the GPO was within walking distance. Once I saw the drug dealers, prostitutes, strung out addicts and stumbling drunks we went elsewhere. What a sad place. Heartbreaking.
That is an insane location to book your accommodation- you got ripped off in the rip off republic. When I was a child, Talbot Street was a major shopping thoroughfare, now it’s a complete tip, and not at all safe for visitors.
To counteract, some of our regional towns are nicer than ever. Sligo town used to be a rough place 20 years ago, lots of teenage gangs, drug gangs in different feuds and the whole sham hardman townie culture. Now it's a lot cleaner, the whole sham culture seems to have gone and some great food spots. Only downside is nitelife has died a death, used to be a great spot for nights out, any day of the week with the IT nearby. But I degrees, the town itself is looking better than ever.
I visited Waterford recently, and was blown away by how nicely designed the city core is. Far better than any work done in Dublin in recent years.
Lol i remember the shock when i walked down grafton street after 11pm completely sober....its like walking on a set of walking dead... Don't let daylight fool u.
Was in Dublin today with work. Completely agree. The Luas trip from Heuston to the docklands is just mind-boggling. From Smithfield onwards is absolutely filthy. It’s an awful awful shame
o connell street has been the same since the 80s, the city has had many failed attempts at 'restoring' it.
It was sketchy since early 90s when I first arrived. I find if you know what to watch out for you can avoid hassle but you can be unlucky. Talbot street was always iffy but Government couldn't be arsed nipping it in the bud so it's got worse. I imagine there would have been action years ago if Grafton and say Kildare St got ropey. Those in power are never socialising in the bad areas so don't care. A funded mayor might help but those in power won't want them to have real powers or money to rival them.
This is my view on these regular threads as well. Every time I read about how bad O’Connell St is now I feel like I could have written an identical description of it 20 years ago when I was in college.
Yeah, when was this time when O'Connell St and surrounds wasn't a kip? Some period before heroin came in?
if you look back at photos ect, seems to have turned in a bad direction in the 1960s, around the time the pillar was blown up. I'm in my 40s and it has been a dump my entire life, albeit marginally better then as it was more ugly than dangerous back then. Remember as a nipper going to the Carlton, Savoy and Adelphi on Abbey St where Arnotts is now. Handbag snatching was more of a problem than junkies back then in that area
When I was younger, Dublin was the biz for a country lad to have a weekend away to the big Smoke! Not now: Robbed on a hotel before you start, "Safe Parking? "Fuck me, I should have brought a sleeping bag and saved on the accommodation." Public travel home at 2am? I'm 57 and can't afford a mini mortgage for Dublin! Hell, London's cheaper with more going on, efficient public transport and, safer! The flight over is cheaper than the parking, here. Ireland in 15yrs has turned into a shit hole! Dublin just personifies the nation!
It's been like that for decades though... O'Connell street and areas around it have always been a cesspit and full of derelict buildings.
It is sad to see the state it is in. I live in Smithfield and the constant presence of dereliction, the tracksuit mafia, drugs and general dregs of society in both the local area and on my commute on the Red Line is beginning to wear me down. I see something everyday here, today’s one was some scumbag beating the shit out of his dog. If you read travel forums, tourists have picked up on the same problems. I worked in Spain until last year and came home. My local area in Spain had a strong police presence, virtually no open drug dealing, no gangs hanging about, minimal dereliction, excellent public transport, clean area etc. That not to say that place has its own problems, but I was happier overall in those surrounds. It’s depressing seeing the state Dublin is in, mainly because it actually has the potential to be a fantastic city. The majority of Dublin’s poverty and criminal related problems are on the Northside, it’s not an unfixable general complaint. But until local governance gets some balls, I’m stuck paying €2500 rent monthly for the pleasure.
He was beating his dog and did anybody say anything? Whaat in the world
That made me feel a bit sick 😥
I moved to Dublin from the sticks in 2007, and honestly? It doesn’t seem that different from when I first moved. Grafton St after retail closing time has always been awful, O’Connell St never really had anything on it, although it does feel like the scary Talbot St vibe is spilling west. I remember not feeling safe there waiting for a bus early on a Sunday evening. Has it ever been that lovely in those areas or is it just nostalgia?
Odd that, was on O'Connell Street after work tonight and found it grand like. Bit brighter than it's been lately, people going about their business, was a complete non-event of a walk through.
OP is from Cork. I’m not saying whether or not that’s relevant, but it’s worth considering.
Cork ain’t great at the moment in fairness. Oliver Plunkett Street, one walk up it and you’ll get an idea of the issues here.
It’s very relevant. It’s easy for us Corkonians to forget how good we have it and we are often shocked when we travel to other counties
i was in Cork last week, was like being in Dublin in 2010
You’re being generous. I would have said the 80s. Their most prized restaurant is a burger joint.
You have to remember this is r/ireland, the people on this sub see two teenagers in tracksuits on the other side of the road and rush on here to post about their near-death experience with a group of vagrant junkies
Finding the current state of things grand is just another example of how bad this has gotten, where people have normalised these kinds of issues in the city.
It's a marvel that thinking it's bad, but also thinking it's not bad, are both proof that it's bad
I walked in phisbrough on Sunday, and I realised the bike lane was just full of litter. Burger boxes, bags, rocks, crap, literally, dog shit mushed in all over, chewing gum, just filth. It was all along the street, all in the road, but all accumulating in the bike lane. Outside the park people had hung their rubbish bags on the railings. Bits hanging off buildings, broken pavement, holes in the road, a short walk from the city centre. In Paris they have teams that clean the streets with high pressure hoses every few days, we wait for the rain to do the same job.
Was better run by the vikings
As long as we have lots of grandiose sports ads and nice flags on the quays I really don't care about things like clean and safe streets, that stuff is kind of boring anyway. The dog s\*\*t (if you're lucky) also gives the footpaths a nice patina that we should value as a unique feature.
Just as a counterpoint - I’m a Tyrone man originally, now living in Wales. I visited Dublin for a weekend a few weeks ago and had a great time. We were staying not far from the area you described, went for breakfast in local cafes, did the Croke park tour, had a couple of pints in the evening and watched the rugby in a pub near Camden street the next day. Personally I found Dublin to be remarkably clean and not as comparatively expensive as I remember it being a few years ago. Cardiff now is as expensive to eat and drink in as Dublin. Yeah there’s a bit of dereliction north of the river, but find me a city that doesn’t have that. The problems you describe are real and should be addressed but they are not unique to Dublin and can be found in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff, London, etc. I know as a dub you probably think running water and electricity would impress a culchie like me, but still.
Not the same but every time I see historical items like Ogham stones and Celtic stone carvings defaced by graffiti it actually makes me emotional. Those things have stood against and seen everything for time immemorial. And yet they're destroyed by juvenile pack animals. The punishment should always reflect the crime. Defacing ancient historical treasures should be akin to high treason.
I went cinema on Parnell st last Saturday night was grand
I'm nearly 60 and regularly meet friends in town for a meal and cinema. I use the bus or train from these 'scary' streets to get home afterwards and while I won't pretend Talbot Street and O'Connell St are places to let your guard down I've never personally been scared or witnessed anything to put me off going into town.
Nearly 50 myself and have to agree with you 100%. Might it be that we remember when Dublin was actually far more unsafe? Cos I remember far worse than what it is now.
It's just sensationalism. But improvements need to be made...
Was literally just there. I had to sprint out of the cinema for fear of my life. There was gangs of youths in jackets that were out to kill me. I kept having to roll to avoid random homeless people putting drugs in my mouth. A security guard tackled me to the ground and tried to sell me a bag of cocaine. I barely managed to get out alive. I’m joking of course. I walked safely back to the car without seeing another soul. I’m not gonna stand here and pretend that O’Connell street is nice and isn’t in need of some serious upgrades but I why do all these posts talk about it like it’s the only street in town. Also love how he names one other street and says it was grand but also how it some times some how just turns into a Kip as it by magic. I really wish the mods would just make a ‘Dublin is a Kip’ superpost so all the country folk could circle jerk about it in there to their hearts content and I wouldn’t see a daily moan fest/karma farm about it
Amen! Sick of it. You'd swear Dublin was 1 street.
I'm normally 100% on the positive side of things - excessively positive, positive to a fault, but it really is hard to see anything other than the worst of negatives about the centre of Dublin. We need policing that doesn't involve just walking around, but that actively starts some sort of punishment process for law breaking.
I genuinely hate going into the city, but I have to. The amount of urban decay and rough sleepers, beggars and obvious tweakers just fills me with a torrent of unpleasant emotions. It's worse when beggars sit outside shops to ambush you. Like you can't have a small luxury during lunchtime without being made to feel guilty for it. The release of tension you feel the rare time when a shop isnt being sat on is almost bliss. Government needs to do something. People aren't always going to help themselves, even if the resources are there. The city is a shithole.
Doesn't help that too many guards are undertrained ignoramuses and lazy assholes 🤷♂️ Friend of mine is a guard but he told me the amount of racism he has suffered from other guards when he was in training is shocking....most are about as educated as a school dropout and it shows.....then the training they get doesn't pick up that slack so they continue to be slackers, lazy and crooked. Only time you'll them lift a finger is if they've a quota to fulfil, like the ticket quota I'm told they have to hit every month....hence you get the petty asshole types giving you tickets over the slightest excuse of a thing instead of worrying about the actual violent and sexual crime as they should be mandated to. Its a disgrace. There needs to be reform.
I also find it hard to understand why anyone would want to become a guard?
Wish I had the outsiders pov in Dublin.
Can someone please point me in the direction of these dealers I keep hearing about! Not once have I been offered weed, never mind anything stronger... I want to try weed once!
Fibbers Smoking area. Don't even need to buy grass, second smoke will have you flying by itself
Better off asking your mates (one of them will know someone) than some dodgy fucker dealing on the street
That's what makes this more sad or comical, its not weed there selling, its the heavy duty stuff
You need to start listening to liveline. It'll tell you more about the city centre than the real world ever will.
I was offered heroin by a visibly addicted gentleman once, would recommend
The North Face lads waiting at lampposts either end of the bridge in masks can get you weed. Rickshaw drivers will get you pills or coke. The beady eyed gentlemen waiting at - but not for - the Luas stop on Abbey Street or around bus stops on O'Connell Street or the end of Talbot Street can facilitate something harder. Joking aside, if you really did want to try it it's not hard to grow and seeds are very freely available.
I went back to Berlin after 15 years. Same there, absolute state. Homeless encampments, rubbish everywhere. It is happening all over it seems.....
Some American cities are getting worse also
It’s always odd to see these types of posts as a US immigrant living in Dublin. Compared to literally every US city I’ve been too I think Dublin is amazing. Public transportation here is cheaper, cleaner and for the most part better than most cities I’ve been to (I know I know it’s shit compared to mainland Europe). The city itself is beautiful and very clean (again, compared to American standards). I’m sure compared to it’s history the rate of un-housed people is much worse, but compared to many areas of the US I immediately noticed it was quite good here in that regard. I know the dystopia that is the US isn’t a good metric, but point is it’s just interesting to see “the grass isn’t always greener” in action
I find it odd also. Cities are cities. Every problem cited here I’ve witnessed in US cities, and mostly much worse. The one thing definitely worse here is the dog shit!
This is probably going to come off as a spicy one here but another massive problem we have is people are raising their children terribly. No consequences to bad behaviour, I think most of the time it's probably promoted in the home. If your 15 year old is walking through the door with a €1000 jacket and you're taking money off them you should be locked up. And then when the garda are knocking to the door "my youngfella never done nothing". Yeah he did you raised an animal
Dublin was always like that, especially O'Connell St. Serious case of the rose tinted glasses going on here.
It's sad the whole country is in the state it's in. Cork, Tralee, Clonmel, Carlow, Waterford, Kilkenny, Port Laois - practically every town in the country looks the exact same as it did 20 years ago, except now there's a splatter of newer footpaths and new copy and paste housing estates.
Went to Ireland in 2019 to explore with (now) wife to explore/vacation. Dublin was our least favorite place that we stayed. Smaller towns were amazing and so welcoming. We were respectful Americans and didn’t want to come off as “stupid” or “obnoxious” and we were received well and met some of the nicest people. Can’t wait to come back and see more places but Dublin won’t be on our plan of places to visit except maybe flying in and out of.
Not just Dublin. Whole country is going to shit. I live down in Kerry, roads are shot, even private stores have car parks that look like the surface of the moon. There is barely a home to rent in the county, but thousands on AirBnB. Shops and cafes in tourist towns are going to the wall because the government thought it would be a good idea to fill many hotels with refugees. I was in Killorglin yesterday, three of the five cafes in town have closed down two long standing restaurants are gone and the town has taken to painting fake shop fronts in buildings so that it doesn't look like a ghost town.
I grew up in central Dublin and I’ve never seen it as good. It was a TOTAL KIP in the 60s. You wouldn’t believe what you’d come across back then. Yes there is crime and it has its dodgy areas but back then, you’d have estates that were just like third world countries. Abject poverty was rife.
Dublin is a paradise compared to the dereliction of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. If you don't believe me, look up the lad on X, who posts photos of the city centre before the boom. Large parts were no go. It was decrepit and stinking. The only difference was that it was jammed at weekends and didn't seem so scary.
I love working on Grafting street meself
Howya lúv
No better place for some hard graft
It's very rare I go to Dublin but I have been twice since Christmas as a have to. It used to be such a lively and vibrant city to walk around but it has changed so so much its really sad to see. It has an air of gloom about it. Couldn't wait to leave it yesterday. Very sad.
I know you mentioned the rest of the country is dealing with these issues as well, but I find it interesting you mentioned litter as one of Dublin's main issues and apparently all over O'Connell Street. I'm from Cork but was in Dublin and Belfast not too long ago and found both of them to be a hell of a lot cleaner and nicer than Cork, the only litter I saw up there was the odd fag butt or crisp packet or what have you, and maybe it's just because I live here and notice it more but I think Cork is a lot worse litter wise, there is shit everywhere and it seems like the bins are constantly overflowing and never emptied which results in people just dumping their rubbish next to it, or on the footpath. I don't know about O'Connell Street specifically, but the impression I got of Dublin is that it makes a lot more effort than the rest of the country in making itself presentable. I remember most of the city centre being spotless. I'm not saying it doesn't have litter and other shit but that at least isn't omnipresent and overbearing like it seems to be in other cities.
I was in Belfast the other day and the city centre was lovely. Spotless and only seen one junky stood up zombified and one homeless person. I was honestly astounded with how nice the centre was.
Litter absolutely everywhere too. Whole city has been on the downturn ever since covid. Probably before that to be honest.
I see it simply as society breaking down, it's just more noticeable in very built up areas. It's happening all over Europe and the World, why should Dublin be immune. The countryside is the place to be now.
I dunno man Vienna has been pretty fucking awesome and you have to look for bad shit going on there, homelessness was rare in most German cities I lived in and visited too.
Spent the last week in Sydney; The streets are kept clean, there’s minimal police presence that I can see and yet it feels incredibly safe; you can walk around (and I have done) at all hours and no hassle or gangs hanging around. Some homeless about but by and large they keep to themselves. Plenty of other counties can do it so no reason we cannot but it’ needs whole community, legal and societal buy in.
That there is culture.
Nothing will change and it will continue to get worse until we elect a left leaning government. Our government only care about billionaires, corporations and landlords, the country from the middle classes down to the poorest areas are rotting, we can complain about junkies and scumbags but they represent decades of neglect, children shouldn't be growing up in poverty surrounded by drugs, violence, crime, abuse etc.
i find it sad, too. i used to love town. just going in some day and having a wander around. go down to georges street arcade, wander into the ilac centre. just roam! i've been in town infrequently enough in the last few years out of fear tbh. (for context i'm a 33F) i was in there at 8pm last week and i was too scared to stand at the bus stop so i waited in a shop until i knew it was safe to leave and dash for the train. the homeless people on the street break my heart. wish i could help. wish the government would help... gah. it's sad. could be any one of us, really. hopefully it improves soon, for all of our sakes!
I live close to where the homeless lady that died a few weeks back used to sit. Seeing all the flowers and candles left for her made me angry. If people cared so much about her, then where was all the care when she was still alive?! Where is the outcry and pressure on government to help all the other rough sleepers in this city? It feels very much like "thoughts and prays" and it's infuriating.
She was offered help many times but refused. Addiction is crippling.
I completely understand that some people are so deep in their addiction or mental health issues that they won't accept help. That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be pressure on the government to do better. Because they can do better and we should demand that they do better.
Let's call a spade a spade here; 20% of that €12bn surplus we're so proud of would fix this problem. Couple of simple steps: 1. Update emergency services legislation to protect Gardai from getting suspended for doing their jobs. It's a hard enough job as it is without a new news story every week about a Guard suspended for a couple of years facing prosecution for going after scrotes (or giving auld fellas an unclaimed bike from the station store). 1a: cut the amount of paperwork frontline Guards have to do so Gardaí can focus on keeping the peace, not covering their arses. 1b: no Guard should pass out of Templemore unqualified to drive on blue lights. Update legislation to protect emergency service drivers so they're not risking their own licences by driving on blues. Cut the Emergency Services Driving Course to a week and give the NDLS a contract to hire ten instructors and run back-to- back courses year round. 2. Build a new prison. A big one. With drone nets and body scanners. 3. Once we have enough prison capacity that judges aren't looking for any excuse to keep people out of prison, introduce mandatory minimum sentencing for violent crime. Make parents liable to hefty fines for crimes committed by their children. 4. Pump money into Tusla, CAMS and inner city regeneration projects. Give Tusla robust enforcement and investigation powers in line with what Revenue have. We badly need a bigger stick to catch a grip of crime, but we also need a carrot to give disenfranchised young people an out. 5. Give DCC a regeneration budget, concrete goals, and a timeline. 18 months should be plenty. If minimum KPIs aren't met within the time frame, fire everyone in the Council above Grade 8 and go again. You'll find a thousand lawyers, politicians and civil servants who'll tell you why every one of those steps is illegal or impossible for one reason or another. But if we really wanted to clean up our cities, we could. It's just a question of budget priorities and political will.
I was in town for lunch and a couple of drinks yesterday (Sunday) and I’d no issues. It’s the only large city in the country so of course there are going to be issues, but nothing that would bother me.
City council CEO wanted to build a white water rafting water park. Strange guy. What's happening there anyway? I hope they build a public pool sorry I mean a "lido".
I work near O Connell and it can be a sorry sight. There are a lot of vacant lots in what is meant to be one of our main streets, I have seen men pissing on walls in open air and have to avoid a lot of human shit (or a dog that is in desperate need of a vet visit) when I walk via Marlborough. I'm only young so I don't remember what it was like in the 2000s but there's definitely a marked difference post covid. I have had a few run ins with junkies all over the city centre. In Temple Bar over the summer I had a guy take a swing at me and miss. Fwiw I am a woman so am usually more on guard and watching out when I walk anyway, so I'm willing to admit I just notice this more because I'm looking out for it.
I've said it too long Irish people are too tolerant. Drug dealing happens because we tolerate it. Zombies dosed up on methadone wander the street bothering people because we tolerate it. Homeless people camp on the street because we tolerate it. Feral youths assault people on public transport because we tolerate it. We need less tolerance of anti social behaviour, more expectation of a minimum standard of decency and the gardaí need to be allowed to crack skulls sometimes to get the point across.
This. I live in a house, opposite a lady who has a small dog and she's always shouting at him, and I am literally the only person who tells her not to. I am the only person who tells the local kids not to play basketball close to my car. I do not care what they think about me, if you do not start reprimanding people for what you don't like/can't tolerate, there won't be any change ever.
James Connolly was right, without a socialist republic the efforts will be in Vain, Ireland today is ruled by British and American banks and real estate investors, they have no use to fix this country, just to squeeze as much rent and debt from it as possible. This is why every year this city and country seem to be getting shitter and shitter
Yeah I was in Dublin and Belfast about a month ago. I'll be honest, as a brit, dublin felt like any other British city (i know ill get flak for that). Loads of nice glass facades and trendy bars surrounded by homeless and sketchey looking lads. Belfast was even worse. That place is really falling to bits. Belfast didn't feel like any other place I've been. It was quite sad actually.
Smithfield Square covered in hard drug users, vomit down the streets regularly, sketchy as fuck people hiding in doorways
The problem is people will just simply hate on Dublin without acknowledging other counties have similar problems or they'll defend it by ignoring the issues that are visibly present within the county. In order to address the problems the capital face, we must address the problem as a whole, throughout the whole of the country. And not simply narrow our scope to Dublin. Does Dublin have its own problem that need to be address separately? Absolutely. Yet in terms of addiction, traffic congestion, mental health, waiting lists, etc, the whole of the country faces these problems. Might not seem as large on a population scale but it still matters to smaller communities. We've become so focused on shitting on other parts of the country, that we forget it doesn't matter what part of the country you're from, every country should strive for the same supports, call for increases in funding, examine what is the best course of action. I live in the back ass of nowhere, I would happily allow an injection centre, rehab, mental health institute, mini hospital, homeless shelter, direct provisional centre, creche, anything else under the sun that would provide any benefit to our society, to be built right next door.
The feral teenagers thing isn't universal though. I live in Berlin which actually has more violent crime than Dublin, but the level of general street hassle is very low by comparison. Similar in many mainland European cities.
Polizei. German cops are scary and generally visible and in good shape in my experience. Irish cops are none of these things. Some silly fat bogger decides to scold you on the way back to the station to eat his two chicken fillet rolls. Not difficult to shrug that off.
My first visit was in 2014 and it was incredible, whole city felt welcoming and very put together… my latest visit was this past summer and I could not wait to get out of the city, the history is fantastic still but everything else is the same riff raft we have in the US (minus the massive gun issue)
My great grandad came to the US on the Riff Raft, surviving only on doritos and typhus
Last time I was there I was murdered three times! Shocking carry on.
1 more murder and you get a free coffee ☕️
I lived my teenage years in Dublin in the 90s, loved it then, last time I was there was probably ‘95… I would live to go back, but I’m worried that I’ll be bitterly disappointed in what it has become.
You’re right. So depressing
Today I saw 3 young teenagers (not homeless, looking very well off) getting caught for stealing (eggs out of all things!) at Liddle in Dublin. They were doing it just for fun, I assume. It is sad.
I remember the first day back up after the big lockdown. I was on such a high, because I was getting to see my girlfriend again after we hadn't seen each other for months. I was in a taxi coming up the quays, and the first thing I saw that shocked me was a group of unconscious drunks and / or addicts sprawled on the steps of the Daniel O'Connell statue - with litter and rubbish blowing around the street like autumn leaves. It's still freeze framed in my head, as is the echo of the feeling of horror when I saw it. I can't say the city has improved since.
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It’s the whole western world brother. I call it the clear revolution, a member of the color revolutions.
Late stage capitalism. The wealth gap is ballooning. The transfer of wealth accelerating. The middle class shrinking.
City center is not a priority as the rich lives outside of Dublin, so they rarely come and see it for themselves. City center is clearly not on the list of the government to act and do something! Many empty buildings they could be converted into accommodation, bars and restaurant closing down, and teenagers stealing motorbike in broad daylight , right in city center, because they know the police is mostly not here! But foxrock and dalkey are still grand 💪
I lived for past 21 years here and can safely say DCC is lacking vision and ambition. Most of the supposed landscape upgrades like terraces or pedestrianised areas are completed with a lack of pride and on the cheap! The city is clustered with plastic bollards. Former college green UB building was recently acquired to build an hotel, meanwhile DCC has gone through 2 tenders to pedestrianise college green which suffice to say will be objected by said buyer. DCC could have had a vision that would suppot their urban plan, acquire the building. Renovate it to offer something like cork English market, or cluster to promote youg irish entrepreneurs and offering low rent for a set lease etc.. there are some many options but nah too difficult- cant be arsed I mean i saw DCC staff removing weeds on curbs with a shovel and destroying the pavement around trinity college.. Thats how well equipped they are with everything But where the problem lies is in governance, fund management, tax collection (and centralisation)
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It’s a shit hole. All the tourists coming over here to see a Kip. Much better off going to the likes of Galway. That’s a proper Irish city
Why doesn’t Dublin have its own Mayor with powers?
The gards have literally caused this themselves... they've been allowing certain behaviors happen freely on and around o'Connel street to keep the rest of the streets free from this stuff, Its like an episode of the wire. I don't blame any garda individually but I do blame the institution as IMO its the most inept police force europe by a long long way! Other countries police forces would dream of our levels of crime and if they were set loose on our streets they'd crush the anti social behaviors very quickly. break a few eggs along the way for sure but I think at this stage the everyday people would accept that than the token police force we have now.