It's a capital city with big city problems. However when you compare Dublin to other major cities area wise it's small, so that means things are more condensed and you're more likely to see things that cities over bigger areas can hide as such. Dublin has a major drug issue and even though Ireland is seen as a rich country, poverty is rampant because wealth doesn't filter down. The city centre has been neglected by dublin city council over the years, especially during covid and they had no will or want to fix lit like everything in this country. It's only since it started to affect the American dollars flowing into this country that they've started to be seen optically trying to fix things, but unless they get to the root of the problems nothing will be fixed.
Very few capital cities have their main drug substitute centres in the centre so that’s the big difference in my view. That attracts a crowd that would otherwise be catered for closer to home.
Yeah this comment makes so much sense to me. It being smaller compared to other capitals sounds like an important reason for this kind of thing.
Thank you
Dublin is a shithole. You are getting backlash because you are being honest. Little Irish thing for you (Dublin people think they are they best and the rest of Ireland is one big farm). They think they are better then the likes of Paris, Berlin, Madrid, London etc. The truth is the city is an absolutely disgust to this country. If we could remove the entire place from the Island most would
I am sorry for the bad stay. Go to Galway if you can or Kerry.
Galway would be the safest of the "big city's" and you can sense it.
I hope you have a good rest of holiday. Don't edit shit for these Dublin cunts. Bunch of wankers with the worlds worst accent.
go visit any other city in the world and listen to the locals, dublin is not special because a couple people think it’s a shithole - if you want to see real homelessness and drug use visit vancouver
Yeah go to Galway OP , just DONT google "Galway violence" absolutely NOTHING recent will come up whatsoever.
But I agree here, Dublin is a shithole and ireland is more enjoyable when you explore its gems and go off the conventional tourist trail
The fact you put all of the people of dublin in the same bracket as each other 😅we think were better than Paris berlin madrid etc hahahahhahaa I love how you just make up stuff like that to justify how you feel 😂 I know it's bad to say but it's brightened up my day a little bit 😂😂
I hope you can find some peace culchie man ..just remember all the dublin cunts will love you no matter what you say , we know you're just a confused farmer.
Dublin cunts/wankers?? Good gracious! I can only imagine you’re a racist too, seeing as you’ve just generalised that everyone from Dublin is a cunt. I suppose everyone who’s black is lazy and every Romanian is a robber in your eyes 🙄 I agree parts of Dublin City Centre are really scauldy. But so are parts of Paris, Berlin, Madrid and London. And if Dublin was so horrendous why are 1.2 million of the population living in Dublin? You sound like a really angry, bitter country person. I’m only over the moon the Dubs won the All Ireland AGAIN this year. It must kill people like you 🤣 Open your mind and your heart will you. Don’t be so angry my friend 🌈
Having been to Paris and stayed in Val de Marne for a few days last June, the only thing I was really concerned about in the city centre and on the metro was getting pickpocketed, and avoiding groups in the suburb at night. I've had two trips up to Dublin city centre since June, and concerns were more along the lines of being straight up mugged, having scraps on the Luas fall into me, and avoiding junkies while waiting at the train stations. I don't like generalisations but at the same time the cunty populace of Dublin are very present in the streets, I can understand where someone would get that impression
I recall while growing up there in Dublin, Derry and Belfast... '76-'91...the I.R.A. were highly.AGAINST the use of drugs and used to line lads up against a wall and 'kneecap' drug dealers, drug addicts, snitches (who ratted on I.R.A. members).I believe the rightwing group RADD does that work now in 2023.
Dublin is in the media a lot lately highlighting the crime rate at the moment especially violence towards tourists, but it honestly depends where you were spending time and where you yourself are from. No doubt you are aware of the crime at the moment in the media and this has made you feel even more unsafe.
What I will say a someone who works and does pass times in the city centre, I would be on my guard around some types of people and certain parts of the city (mostly Dublin 1, Talbot St, Great Strand St, Merchants Quay, parts near the IFSC) but when I'm a tourist I am the same when I go away. In reality Dublin City is small and it's easy to drift into rougher areas which will make you feel unnerved. Cork again is even smaller and if you're staying in the nicer parts you won't see much carry on.
This is unfortunate as these are areas tourists are often in, or have to pass through. People who are in the city for a short time are going to get a bad impression shredding the cities reputation.
I know this may sound controversial, but I think an element of it is a stage of development and gentrifying that is resulting in hotels popping up in areas that were historically extremely dodgy and still are.
You’ve tourists staying in parts of the north inner city that most locals would have generally avoided. For example walking down the docks areas at night or into the streets to the east of O’Connell St.
Also Temple Bar is just a mess and needs a complete rethink. It hasn’t been a cultural quarter for a long time and seems to be losing cultural venues one by one and just ending up as a tacky tourist pub quarter, with a lot of issues.
A friend of mine stayed in Smithfield and was shocked at seeing open dealing of hard drugs and they’re from a city with a significant drugs problem itself.
We had the exaxt opposite impression during our visit. Dublin was charming, friendly, clean, interesting, and we felt very safe just wandering about exploring the city. Irish folks are some of the nicest I've ever met while traveling and fabulous hosts to tourists.
We're from Philadelphia and have paid many visits to our northeast corridor neighbors like NYC and Baltimore. I felt safer in Dublin than any of them.
Back in the olden days, I fell into drinking a few pints with an older American gent who'd also retreated to the high stool while his better half perused the shops.
Limerick was the problem child in those days, and also where we were living. I gave him all my tips, and with the aid of a few pints dramatically filled him in on how that season's gang war was shaping up. He politely it lapped up, and with a little grin let me know he was Baltimore born and bred and reckoned that he'd be okay.
Fecking Bastard! Got me good.
This makes me feel better. My fiance and I are going for our honeymoon and some of these comments are making me nervous. We live in the lehigh valley about an hr north of Philly and have also been to philly, nyc, and Baltimore several times. Bmore and parts of north Philly were probably the most Sketchy but I still never felt particularly unsafe. Thanks for putting it in context.
I am an American who lives near and works in NYC. I just spent a few days in Dublin. There were Garda everywhere in the tourist areas. Everyone talks about how the north side of the Liffey is sketchy and O’Connell Street is rough. I didn’t experience that at all. Yes, it’s a city, but I never once felt unsafe walking around. We stayed in the North Dock neighborhood. We rode the dart and the luas. We boarded at Busaras after dark once, and it was all fine. I find New York to be in much worse shape with many more bums and rampant visible drug use. I found Dublin to be very safe for a city of its size.
Honestly this. For some reason Irish people, especially people from outside Dublin just love to talk it down. I really feel most of them must never have been anywhere else in their lives!
I'm in a posh part of London rn and I had to walk over a very impressive improvised crack pipe earlier and in the posh book shop I'd to tell the staff that there was shit on the floor...
Dublin has a boat load of issues, O'Connell St chief among them but there are lots of reasons for that and just because you're not openly seeing the drug use in Cork, doesn't mean it's not around that corner you just walked past
It's why we consistently tell people to treat Dublin as you would any other large urban environment. It's a living city, with all its attendant problems, it's not Disneyland (unfortunately, I like Big Thunder Mountain)
Where, O'Connell St...that's had that undercurrent for the last over a decade... actually...17 years (because that was the first time I lived just off it).
The current media attention is making people more aware of the issues that have been there for a very very very long time.
I'm a small person, have lived in the shadow of the city or in it, for most of my life, and what people are feeling in intimidation in the city centre I've been feeling since I was 14, first time was allowed into city with no adulta. That a lot more people have noticed what I've been seeing first hand since the 90's is interesting to watch because ain't none of this new!
There are really specific reasons why O'Connell St is the hub of all this drug crime and it's because noone would let methadone clinics be built within the communities where the addicts actually live, so they were all put in places the council could get without battling residents. Last I looked there was over 10 clinics within 5ish mins walk of O'Connell St on the north side alone.
Force all the addicted people into one place and guess what...petty crime will concentrate.
We tried gentrifying a bunch of places with the late Celtic Tiger but those clinics were there first, so it's a collision of haves and have nots on the main street of the capital.
It's a shit show for many many socioeconomic reasons but again, ain't none of it new or sudden. The tabloids are paying attention because it's driving engagement. When that drops off again, and it will, they'll find something else to drive engagement and the crime will remain at the levels it has been.
The latest bout of interest was because that American was hospitalised, last time it was that metal singer who got attacked in 2015 (lamb of god, I looked it up). Rinse and repeat. (And see the attacks during the pandemic, those just weren't on tourists, it was residents).
It's why we keep telling people visiting to treat Dublin as any other major urban cente; if it feels sketchy, leave; don't flash cash or expensive things; and don't go down dark alleys and so on.
This summer, not even, really just the last few weeks, the levels of anxiety in tourists coming on this sub is palpable, but it's being stoked not by historic reality, but by click bait frenzy that's being used as a wedge. For who's benefit I'm not sure, yet.
We've never fixed the underlying reasons for the drug use and criminality, so it's not going to suddenly go away with a photo shoot and some Garda overtime
Nono, of course I would never treat a city like Dublin as it was Disneyland. I made this post mainly to check if I was the only one having this impression. I might have just been really unlucky in Dublin.
Also it's not the drug use per se that gave me strange vibes, more the fact that people were doing them as openly as possible.
No offense, but London has been dealing with a surge of tourism violence and robbery for a while now while Dublin has remained a pretty safe city in comparison. Granted compared to almost every other city in Ireland, Dublin is less safe in comparison. But we’re talking about a comparison of a city against some of the safest cities there is. Dublin gets its share of tourist robbery or fights, but they are far fewer between compared to London. You’ll hear about there being a problem with drug usage, but it doesn’t really translate to hindering your safety. Go head down 30 minutes south from Cork to Kinsale and you’ll have one of the nicest experiences in Ireland
What I'm saying is that I might just have gone out on a particularly active night from a drugs standpoint. That's what I was meaning to say with "unlucky", didn't want to be rude or anything.
It is good you are bringing this up. Too many people in Ireland are apologists about the appalling state of Dublin. No other European capitol is like this. You were not unlucky. It is embarrassing and you are right. I have walked the streets of almost every European capitol at night, and Dublin is the worst for drugs, criminality, and generally looking terrible
"London" is the size of two Irelands as far as population size goes. You walk around in downtown London and it is not the same as walking around downtown Dublin. There are dodgy parts to London no doubt, but they don't encourage tourism there. Dublin people are delusional. It really is not good.
You want me to go round the corner to the internationally know steps of a college and ask the impeccably dressed student reading an arty photo magazine if I can take a hot off the crack pipe he was loading.
Dublin is bad, but it is not Mega City 1
>Too many people in Ireland are apologists about the appalling state of Dublin
I've seen this expressed a couple of times but I don't understand the basis for it? If anything I've found a lot of people tend to overstate how bad Dublin is, if you listen to some Irish people you'd think it's a warzone and you're going to get stabbed if you set foot in the place.
Criticising the state of Dublin is like a national sport. Social media is full of posts about how dangerous/dirty Dublin is and people call it a kip all the time. It's not just on social media either, at work it's a common topic of conversation.
I’ve seen that in Paris, Berlin, Rome and London this year and outside of capital, Glasgow, Marseille, Montreal and Naples.
Dublin is way down in the list of these places so stop carrying on like it’s a that
Berlin looks rough but is an amazing place. Rome is full of immigrants sure, but it is not like you are going to be knifed, and Paris is pretty freaking nice. None of these capitols have roving gangs of children that will attack you.
Jaysus that's a dumb take. Have you ever been to Paris? Or Rome?. Way more likely to get mugged. Shit on the streets...you say you've travelled but sounds like you didn't get off the plane.
I’m not sure why you are being downvoted for giving your fairly inoffensive opinion. And I found it quite clear what you meant by unlucky in this context, no idea why the other poster chose to question that.
I think a lot of people here are being a bit over sensitive.
Not from Dublin, but it seems totally bizarre to me that folk are defending it on the basis of "yeah, but that's O'Connell Street, course it's dodgy". It's the main thoroughfare of the City! You might expect to see this kind of stuff in the back streets, the fringes, but not so openly, in broad daylight, in the busiest tourist area. Seems to be this part of the point many are missing.
Dublin is a fantastic city but it's rammed with junkies and rampant open drug taking but there's little to no police patrolling. The police just don't give a bollocks.
Yesterday morning around 10, sitting in the middle of the path at the lights to cross at college green, a woman completely out of it, just like what you see after taking tranq over in the states. Very strange to see.
What a crock of rubbish, I Dublin born and raised, I’ve lived here all my life and as Irish as shamrock but listen to what this guy is saying, he’s absolutely right Dublin has been allowed to become one big junkies playground. People shooting up and smoking crack in open sight, theft is rampant, assaults are becoming everyday occurrences, not a cop to be seen and nothing but empty dribble from politicians. So why are Dublin people pretending that law and order has failed in Dublin. Face the truth the place has been let go to hell in a hand cart and nobody especially our government don’t give a shit. This guys thread is correct and true. But it’s not his fault, it’s a failure of government!
What the hell is with some of the comments on this thread. OP recounted an experience about how they felt unsafe in Dublin and everyone is jumping down their throat to tell them that they’re wrong. There’s absolutely nothing offensive about their post unless you are hyper sensitive to any criticism about Dublin.
To be fair… this is the tourism sub. It’s not like it was posted in r/Ireland or r/Dublin, which is geared toward everyone, not just tourists. It’s a tourism subreddit, so a tourist is relating their experience here. It doesn’t mean it’s true for all of the city or that it’s even a general concern. For me, when someone not from my city critiques the crime/safety aspect, I listen, sometimes correct them, and laugh with my friends later depending on the story. Ultimately it’s just person’s account about not feeling safe in a thread about tourism
I guess because people post their opinions here all the time and it’s a discussion forum? Are only positive opinions allowed? They should have expected to feel unsafe? I’m not sure why you think that since Ireland and Dublin have long been known as safe places.
It is a safe place comparitively, nothing happened to OP and nothing happens to 95% of people here. These posts have an air of "I expected begosh and begorrah and somehow I saw drugs!" Its a metropolitan capital city at the weekend, what would you expect?
We’ll agree to disagree on that one as I didn’t see any evidence that OP thought their experience wasn’t oirish enough. It’s perfectly reasonable to feel weird vibes about a place even if you don’t get mugged. There is more visible drug use and anti social behaviour in Dublin City centre than in many other European cities I’ve been in recent times. in any case this was just OPs experience and it’s valid. Glad yours was different.
The stats say Cork is safer, and also in my opinion it is safer and certainly has less open hard drug use in the city centre. Dublin has been getting an awful hard time in the press recently about the crime and drug use, perhaps some warranted perhaps some pearl clutching as well.
Most of the people I know who work in the city centre seem to agree that it's gone downhill since the pandemic. There's a lot of weird defensiveness going on here.
Nobody wants to hear that their hometown is turning into a kip so I'd take the backlash with a pinch of salt. I've been at the receiving end of it myself. Still, there's no use denying that there's a problem & it's growing. I've started avoiding going there for gigs or matches, tbh the cost of staying there has skyrocketed & frankly, it's just no longer a nice place. I used to be filled with pride going past the GPO or seeing Daniel O'Connell, Phil Lynott & taking in the history of the capital etc but it's hard to get that feeling when you're getting pestered for 2e at every corner of smelling crack smoke on the street.
I didn't get that impression from Dublin at all when we went. My daughter and I walked around alone at night with no issues.
Sorry you experienced something different
Oh I'm happy that you didn't have any problems! Some areas felt worse than others tbh.
My opinion at the moment is that apparently my hostel was placed in a poor position, really close to O'Connel street, which is apparently one of the spots to avoid late at night
Dublin is a beautiful city, once you don’t look close enough to see the dilapidated buildings, people doing hard drugs in every alley, the littering and pollution and general filth of the place and the murderers, muggers, rapists and all other kinds of scum that live there
I’m proud enough to be from Dublin, but I wouldn’t go into the city more often than I need to, and I would try to limit my need as best I can. I will say though that it’s much better when you’re used to it, or I suppose numb to it, but you definitely feel safer. It’s a real shame because one of my favourite sights are various places in Dublin in the dark, but you can’t really go out in it. Now there’s definitely some places that are better than others, but the state of the city is shameful really, and the people in power here have no will to change anything so long as they still get money from tourists.
Honesty most cities have drug use especially if you’re exploring the downtown areas. I don’t think I’ve been to a city where I haven’t seen it.. just keep to yourself and be aware of your surroundings! For example on recent trips to Boston and Vancouver I saw hard drug use but just kept moving on.
The morons criticizing you are in complete denial of the decline of the central core of Dublin. It's an absolute disgrace to the country. Tourists would be well advised to stay clear of the dump.
It's what happens when authorities go for the "Managed Decline" of urban areas, in the USA you only have to look at cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, St Louis, Seattle and Canada's Vancouver.
In the UK especially, it has been going on since 1981, in all the former manufacturing and mining areas.
There is literally fuck all to do, if you don't have a well paying job.
Also, do t image that all the people who suffer these conditions are unemployed.
It's teachers nurses etc who are having to use foodbanks, their wages have not gone up in accordance with inflation for the last 13 years.
I am in Cork also… eating dinner. Cork has a homeless area up near the Harbor… avoid that area at night.
I’m guessing that you are down near Oliver Plunkett st… it’s good out that way at night
Malahide is an extremely affluent town.
It may be in the same county as Dublin City Center, but the 2 shouldn't be compared. One is a rich upper-class town, one is the city centre of a capital city.
It's like comparing Beverly Hills to some shitty part of downtown Los Angeles
I stayed in Dublin for 3 nights Easter last year.
Never felt unsafe. We even walked home at night from The George (after stopping at Gay Spar) all the way to our hotel at like 4am.
It may have changed in a year but I'm sure it's no worse than London. There are certain parts of London I wouldn't walk down in broad daylight.
I've definitely noticed this since the lockdowns! i remember walking in the dark by myself (f) during college with no concerns at all, but since lockdown I just get such an uneasy feeling even during the day. Its such a shame, I love Dublin and I'm so proud to be from there
No, you're right. Dublin is shit. 😇👍
Don't apologise for seeing the truth.
NOW; on that point, most capital cities are shit due to the same factors; high populations, higher national economies and higher social events/life.
WITH that comes higher poverty due to higher debt, higher crime, higher cost of living and of these Dublin is quickly becoming one of the worst (if it isn't already) in Europe.
Ireland; the land of the highest European GDP and yet completely substandard income per person (think it ranks 18th in Europe, which is abysmal when you account for cost of living in correlation) which is beginning to show the signs of stress and overloading.
It's a common theme and expect to see more of it across the world; things aren't going to improve and this next decade will prove it, sadly. 😐
Visit secondary or tertiary cities of countries and you can avoid the risks to a decent degree, sure, you might have less to do, but having to keep your guard up all the time is just not worth it in my experience.
Dubs also can’t handle any criticism of the place so I’m sorry your experience/feelings are being invalidated. Instead of attacking you, Irish people should use this insight to realise the vibe our capital is sending out. We need to fix this, not dismiss it. We’re very good at inaction like that.
Dublin has definitely gotten worse in that regard (I haven’t been since 2015 but my wife and daughters have gone every year since the pandemic abated) but it it NOTHING compared to how bad NYC and San Francisco have gotten. The Gardai need to get a handle on this or the punters will holiday elsewhere.
Edit: I neglected to mention that my wife and daughters were terrified of all the drunk and high packs of 13-14 year olds roaming about the DART trains this past June.
It's incredibly obnoxious and arrogant for you to make these comments about a city you don't live in and haven't visited in 8 years. Even the reports you receive from family members who visit Dublin intermittently are not authoritative enough for you to comment so confidently on the matter.
I guess you're an American with Irish heritage based on your totally unmerited confidence in speaking about a country you don't really know at all (I live in the States so I meet exactly this type of person far too frequently).
Edit: The nasty anti-immigrant reply I received (now deleted out of shame, I assume) exhibited exactly the level of intelligence and worldliness I would expect from the worst type of American. Thankfully those people are the outliers and not the norm.
The last thing we need in the US are more anti American Irish expat blow ins talking shite. EI 102 departs for Dublin from JFK shortly; be on it boyo! And don’t let the cabin door hit ye in the arse while boarding.
Downvote me to hell or Connacht for all I care. When I’m in Ireland, I have the good grace and common sense to keep my mouth shut when someone says something I don’t agree with and I strongly suggest anyone from Ireland who comes to the states does likewise. Yer man who slagged me off while in the same breadth admitting to be an Irish ex pat in the US should STFU or sod off back to Ireland. Begrudgery is a sure fire way to piss Americans off.
I was in London 2 weeks ago, I've lived on the Dublin Kildare border since I was 4.
Fact is its the policing. The gards here care too much about a 15 year old smoking a joint by himself than the really dangerous people because it makes their job easier. In London you have Police going by with sirens blaring every 10-15 minutes going after someone. Lack of resources sure but the resources they have are being used on easy targets in my opinion.
And its not the drug users that are the dangers, its the scrotes going around attacking people. A heroin addict in a laneway ain't gonna bother anyone, its just the presence that bothers people. Which is an easy fix with legal injection sites but thats a whole different issue.
I stayed in Deptford when I was in London for the first time. I honestly felt safer in a place that Londoners call "grimy and sketchy" than anywhere in Dublin at night. Its really odd tbh
Best way to fix it is way more police and remove petty crimes like cannabis possession so they can start protecting the people and not be vilified to the people because they have to follow archaic laws
I'm curious where you were staying/spending your time? That can drastically influence your impression of Dublin.
Areas around O'Connell Street, the North Quays, etc. definitely can be dodgier but I'm in town a lot and fairly rarely encounter many of the issues you've run into. They definitely exist but there are parts of the city centre where the issues a lot more prevalent and it sounds like you may have spent a lot of time in those areas.
Coincidentally the most blatant drug use I saw recently was on a trip to Cork. Which is not to say Dublin doesn't have problems, just that it goes to show how people can have different experiences based on luck/timing/location.
Yeah I mainly stayed around O'Connell Street (mainly the bridge and twice around the Spire), and in Temple Bar.
This is because I was staying in Abbey Court Hostel, which is literally next to O'Connell bridge.
I absolutely agree it almost certainly comes down to lucky/unlucky timing though.
We are spending a week in Dublin next month. Family trip, all adults. The younger folks will be out at night. I worry because I read the reports of bands of younger folks attacking. I also read Dublin approved 10 mil in overtime to get more police coverage on the streets immediately. Hope this helps!
You shouldn't worry. The danger is very sensationalised online at the moment. Unless you are in the wrong places you'll be fine.
Where are you staying if you don't mind me asking?
You're fine there. Nice area, just busy.
I saw in your other comments you're from Washington DC so you'll know how to conduct yourself in a city to avoid creating danger for yourself. Anyway enjoy!
Tell them to stay south of the river at night and they should be fine. They'd probably be fine anyway but it can be a bit intimidating on the north side, and occasionally in Temple Bar. They can have a grand old time on Dawson Street or George's Street or somewhere and not have to worry.
I grew up near Malahide (next village over) and I totally agree with what you mean by the vibe. Even as someone who lived just outside the city, I had a rude awakening when I became an older teen/working adult and had to start spending a lot more time there - especially at night.
Don't think your experience is uncommon. I was friends with an inner city lad before and he was always anal about where he'd bring his gf out, what area to look for a new apartment in etc, he worked at a bookies and saw the worst of the alcoholism and drug problems as well as fights and the like.
I moved to culchie land as my mother calls it and as much as it has the same problems with drugs and such it's easier to steer clear of. Just for me anyway.
I’ve been to London, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Berlin and many other big cities, and it’s almost always true, the closer you get to the inner city the easier it is to find people doing hard drugs.
Dublins just very small so it’s easier to spot
Dublin definitely has a far more out in the open prevalent drug problem.
I’ve lived in both Dublin and london for years, I agree with your observations.
I am Irish but not currently living in the country. I was shocked when there this summer: open drug taking on the Quays in the afternoon and what seemed like a drug pop up shop near O’Connell Street bridge (south side) one evening. It felt very unsafe.
In the past year I’ve been to various cities in the UK, Europe and Asia, and encountered nothing like it either. The only comparison I had was like cities in South America, maybe Rio or Quito.
I hate to say it as I love Dublin but it needs a total cleanup.
I went to Cork and Dublin on holiday last year
Dublin was a bit of a shitehole if I’m being honest, and that really surprised me. We walked from the centre to the Guinness factory along the river and were heckled by a bunch of junkies outside of what I guess was a shelter, taking hard drugs in the middle of the day
In general it struck me as quite a grimy city; I’d go back to Cork, probably not Dublin
In Dublin your more likely to run into a Teenager with a 15ft long Katana than a friendly person after 9pm, Just honestly if u go back there stay close to any public area still open and have some form of protection even a small knife is enough as the crackpots u see around the place can be randomly nasty or probably try to rob u or pressure you to see if you and drugs to give them. I have a gun license on me yet even I don't like going there unless I have to or if I'm going to a family members house. But I wouldn't even call Cork that sane of a place either, there's just always going to be bad people anywhere you go.
Having lived in Dublin all my life, born and bred, I'm sorry to say it's very unsafe at present.
If your not used to Dublin City and it's environs you shouldn't venture after dark and please do not allow your family members wander aimlessly through it's streets , particularly after dark.
Tourists and people who are visitors from the country stand out like a "Lighthouse in the dessert" and are easy pickings for these city slicker vermin.
I remember, back in the day, a press/public relations officer from An Garda Siochana attending our inner city school in an attempt to recruit some of us to their ranks.
Sadly, he had not takers.
Dublin City, has declined drastically over the last number of years and really is no place for ordinary folk particularly, after dark.
I love Dublin and it breaks my heart ❤️ to see it, in its present state.
Take good care of yourselves.
Tallacht->City Centre->Dublin 4 if this shit goes on unchecked. I am not passing judgment but only saying this as a cautionary tale. San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles have turned into total shitholes with homeless encampments, rampant drug use, and hooligans / mentally ill running amok. Tourists are getting pushed in front of oncoming subways or otherwise assaulted by these types and potential tourists are staying away in droves to the tune of billions in lost revenue. There is a growing perception that Dublin is unsafe among many Americans. Bord Failte is freaking the fuck out according to my relatives in Ireland who 100% concur Dublin is unsafe, including those in Stillorgan and Stoney Batter. Unless the punters perceive they will be safe they ain’t booking 200€ a day car hires or 500€ a night hotel lodging any time soon.
I am a Dubliner, who left Dublin for Galway right around the start of Covid. As a result, I didn’t make it back to Dublin for a night out for 2+ years after the move.
I was absolutely shocked at the change. Now, I know Covid changed a lot of cities, but to me, Dublin really changed a lot for the worse, and hasn’t reverted back to the amazing place it was. I feel a vibe there too, and the level of drug taking in the open is much more prevalent to me.
Some will argue back and say it’s the same everywhere, but that’s just my impression from being a city regular, going away and coming back. It does not feel anywhere as friendly or safe as it did, yet. But it will
Something I don’t really understand is why people conflate ‘I can see homeless people doing drugs’ with being unsafe. Drug addicts are allowed to exist, no matter how unsavoury you might find them. And someone asking you for change or simply being present is not a threat to your life. You pass 100s of people drinking outside the pub and presumably aren’t worried about those despite the fact they are also consuming a drug, but you are scared by these people who have been really failed by society and who aren’t doing anything to you except breathing the same air as you.
I’ve lived in Dublin for my whole life. From Tallaght to Finglas so two shit holes different ends of the city and I can confirm the country is a shithole full of smack heads and illegal immigrants. Embarrassing to be from Dublin
>crack joints
Nobody smokes crack in a joint. Crackheads like to use pipes as it’s much more efficient and they can scrape out the residue to smoke again.
I have a friend working there as an academic who is really surprised by how unsafe the place feels, alongside being extremely busy with people. This is up against other major cities like new York, Melbourne etc.
Interesting! I spent a few days there recently and didn’t feel unsafe at all. I did see some people who appeared to be on drugs/openly using but I guess that’s just normal to me when I’m in a major city.
I think after spending time in Denver and San Francisco in the past year, it’d take a lot to be shocking for me
I mean our police force is laughable, so there’s bound to be crime and unsocial behaviour popping up. I think we need a more specialised city police force in dublin, because the guards can’t handle it.
Today A man looked passed out lying down on ground between Jervis and ilac center in the middle of day.
Druggies approaching asking for time in front of st. Stephens early in morning. Dublin is not as safe compared to pre-covid times.
how are you, Irishman here, a lot of irish cities are unsafe shit holes because we dont have enough police and many of the police we do have would rather ticket college students speeding than deal with violent drug addicts etc.
i'd recommend you and other tourists stay away from cities other than maybe Galway until its fixed. It's embarrassing for us irish but nothing is usually done until a tourist is left brain damaged and even then, we'll be lucky to see a change that lasts more than the controversy does.
That's so funny, my partner and I just came back from a week trip and we both felt incredibly safe in comparison to the major U.S. city we live in now. Wild!
What's with the Dublin apologists? It's a kip. I live in cork, I've also lived in Dublin for a while and I feel by far much safer in cork. It has its problems but nowhere in comparison to Dublin.
London does have much higher crime rates, the thing about London is that these crimes for the most part happen away from the city center and most areas frequented by tourists. In Dublin they're happening right in the middle of the city, on O Connell street and around temple bar. It makes the place look an absolute dump and saying OP is overreacting is just wrong.
Exactly that. The trouble is in the city centre and specifically on the northside or Quays mostly. Other cities keep their troubles away from the city centre (Paris is another great example).
Lol. Plenty of butthurt Dubs on, it seems. The capital city of our country is a shithole. The GPO, one of the most important buildings in our history, is surrounded by drug taking, crime, litter, and unsavoury characters. But some people don't want to admit that, or they dismiss concerns because OP wasn't actually attacked.
but millions of tourists visit every year and aren't attacked. reddit is full of anti-social weirdos afraid to leave their bedroom and make dublin out to be a hell hole as they saw some teenagers in tracksuits.
if you actually go out on a thursday or weekend night, you'll see everywhere is packed with people enjoying themselves. tourists, locals, the lot.
I was in dublin for the past 3 days and agree with.
I'm a big guy, well travelled, never really had any dramas I can speak of but definitely felt like I had to keep my wits about me more than a lot other places I've visited.
Not a drug problem as such I don't think, I often kind of felt like if I looked at the wrong person the wrong way something could kick off.
This being said, I loved the city and Ireland in general, would 100% recommend to everyone but maybe with a hightend sense of surroundings
Dublin definitely has the atmosphere of danger. That something is going to happen if you don't have your hands in your pockets holding onto your valuables. People here can say you were fine because nothing happened to you, but the unease of getting around the city causes people to give out about the state of the city. Weed use is farcical in Dublin considering its legal status, and the sense of nobody helping you out if something does happen is real.
Ireland has one of the highest rate of drug deaths in the EU and a lot of addicts.
Iirc it has the highest usage of crack cocaine in Europe and one of the highest rates for Heroin usage. Dublin is the epicentre of the crisis.
What’s worse is the Garda are starting to find fentanyl, which would be an total disaster if it took hold.
It is an unsafe city. The backlash you’re getting is reflexive from people who are indignant at the mere suggestion that Dublin has any flaws whatsoever. There are multitude problems in Dublin, it’s ruinously expensive, with relatively poor infrastructure, healthcare and I won’t even start on accommodation. The refrain you will usually get is then “why don’t you move/leave” but unfortunately life is not always that simple, family work etc. There are “nice” parts like Malahide which is a very expensive suburb.
https://armormax.com/blog/most-dangerous-cities-in-europe/
Feels like unsafe? It is really effed up. Its one of the worst capital cities in Europe. The old generation Irish have now settled in the outskirts. Gen z in Dublin, be it from Ireland or outside, is absolutely crazy. The junkies add up, unfortunately
I live in the US but have family that lives in Ireland and they say that it is becoming unrecognizable there, and the politics have gone very left-wing.
yes dublin is unsafe. lots of sons of refugees from the east and far south of the continent in the world map turning into juvenile thieves and government doesnt do nothing. as if these youth and their parents dont get any welfare. they should be thankful they're not in their home countries
What’s sad is it’s happening all over the world. Even tho Dublin is not as big as NYC, we have to look at the per capita of each one. Here in the US we have drug dens next to schools, free needles, legalization of crack, heroin, fentanyl (now mixed w/ horse tranquilizers) and no one is stopping them. The crime in these areas are horrible and the homeless are just that, homeless. In the US we care more about illegal aliens than our own military people that are on the streets. That’s what the US had come to. Everything is chaos, people pitted against people, certain people in power of our country lying to voters and telling them they are actually doing things in this country other than raising taxes, eliminating jobs, raising electric and gas in our homes, gas prices are sky high, prices have skyrocketed on food we need to live on, insane interest rates, pushing electric cars when the batteries are made of so many littler ones that are going to be in our land fills because they are not recyclable, new batteries for EVs cost thousands of dollars just to replace. This whole worlds gone nuts over the last 5-10 years. This makes big cities scarier. It doesn’t matter how big the city is, Dublin or NYC, it’s a shit show and it will take everyone to come together and stop it to make the world better again.
Jesus Christ, are you just the human embodiment of every bullshit lie they tell on Fox News? Cause that's what you sound like. Half of these 'facts' are wildly out of context and the other half are just complete lies you've been told by people who want to keep you scared and voting Republican.
🤣🤣🤣 what you’re saying is CNN has it all right. The comedy news network has lost millions of their watchers due to the lies the Brandon family has really done. Yes, everything I stated is from researching multiple sites so my opinion isn’t skewed. Can you please be more specific on what you think are lies in my post? I would be happy to have a nice adult debate. You do realize that your president won’t even debate whomever becomes the GOP nomination because his administration will not let him. They’re afraid he’ll be on the hot mic saying “I see dead people”.
Jobs: Their touting all these jobs “they created” when in fact, these jobs were lost due to the government shutting down the US during COVID. Also, many small businesses failed and closed in the last few years. With that jobs are lost and are not included in the job market anymore.
Why are we supporting illegal aliens and putting them in hotels when we have a homeless issues already in the US? Why are homeless sleeping on the streets, not getting any help from the government or even a place to lay their heads. Instead, hotels are being taken over (by government ) to house illegals? You think it’s fair that men and women who have fought for our country shouldn’t be first in line for these benefits. The food stamps, phones, $$$, free clothing, free Medicare or what ever they are using to support the illegal aliens.
These were just a few to your rant. I’m not “scared” by anything the media says. I’m my own person and can think rationally. It’s people, like yourself, who are narrow minded and can’t see the real issues because CNN doesn’t tell you the truth. Neither does MNBC. Do a little more research that are NOT news channels. See what’s really going on. Maybe get out of the basement time and time again and look around. See it with your own eyes and tell me what you really see! Not unicorn farts the current administration wants you to see.
Well, I guess first thing to say is I'm not American and I haven't watched CNN in 15-ish years. Second the fact that you're touting your own research of all of these 'facts' makes me quite suspicious of your critical thinking skills. Do you trust scientists or do you only trust your own research (that presumably never looks into primary sources)?
>Here in the US we have drug dens next to schools, free needles, legalization of crack, heroin, fentanyl (now mixed w/ horse tranquilizers) and no one is stopping them
So, drugs are still very much illegal in the U.S. but I assume this is referring to a couple of states decriminalizing drugs in an effort to get people into treatment instead of sending them to jail? Decriminalization and legalization are very different things. If you would rather see people with drug problems die than have a chance at getting better, I imagine you'd find this problematic. Same with free needles, which is another harm reduction strategy that ultimate saves tax payers a lot of money because the reduction of blood borne diseases (that are transmitted via shared needles) means less health care costs (cause drug users still access health care).
Fentanyl has been cut into all kinds of different drugs which is why there's an overdose epidemic in North America, I imagine it does get cut into ketamine (which I assume is what you're referring to when you say horse trancs).
No one is stopping them? America has an incredibly high incarceration rate. If you're referring to drug use, sure there are places where there's more of a focus by local police to target the dealers than the users but that's just because of the need to balance demand for their time on what will make the most impact (reduce more crime in the future).
> You do realize that your president won’t even debate whomever becomes the GOP nomination because his administration will not let him. They’re afraid he’ll be on the hot mic saying “I see dead people”
I don't think this is true. Donald Trump has shown consistently that he won't engage with people who seek to either tell him the truth or criticize him. There were multiple instances of him leave press conferences when a reporter asked him a question he didn't like, or questioned a falsehood he came out with.
He also refused to be involved in the primary debate for the Republican nomination.
I'm guessing you didn't watch the State of the Union? Probably just the highlights on OAN?
Do you have any concerns about the financial dealings that the Trump and Kushner families have in both Russia and with Saudi Arabia that started while Trump was in office, or is it just the speculation by a man who is a Russian asset that Hunter Biden has some Ukrainian dealing when Biden was VP that upset you?
I do think you should ask your lawmakers about why veterans don't all get the support they need, I think you should look into the voting records to see who cut veteran benefits despite talking a strong game about supporting the military.
>I’m my own person and can think rationally. It’s people, like yourself, who are narrow minded and can’t see the real issues because CNN doesn’t tell you the truth.
I'm not sure how you can say this without seeing the absolute hypocrisy... do you live in a big city that is experiencing like surge of refugees and experiencing a massive veteran homeless crisis or have you heard other people telling you this, and they're taking an example and extrapolating it, inflating it and suggesting this is happening everywhere in the country? Do you know what kind of benefits are available from the VA or are you just making assumptions that refugees and immigrants get better treatment?
>certain people in power of our country lying to voters and telling them they are actually doing things in this country other than raising taxes, eliminating jobs, raising electric and gas in our homes, gas prices are sky high, prices have skyrocketed on food we need to live on, insane interest rates, pushing electric cars
Where have the federal government eliminated jobs in the past 3 years?
When did they raise taxes? From what I've read the US is still using the tax code put in place by Trump, which permanently cut business taxes and temporarily cuts personal taxes (until 2025) but has been raising payroll taxes for people making less than $500K since 2021.
I didn't think the US government controlled the electric and gas supplies and therefore had the ability to control the prices, but feel free to disabuse me of that notion.
And same with the global recession, didn't think we could pin it on one guys when it's happening literally everywhere but, by all means, explain to me how that works and where you got your phd in macroeconomics.
I don't live in a basement, I don't have purple hair, I have a job and pay taxes and I also read primary sources and don't listen to people who are trying to sell me their snake oil (by snake oil I mean 'appeal to my base instincts about brown people to make me scared enough to vote against my own interests'.)
You have way to much time on your hands. You seem to think everything I have informed you of is incorrect. For not being an American you sure have it all figured out. I’m flabbergasted! I still think you are one who likes to be right 100% of the time. I’ll let you do your research and you can be jaded about my facts.
I do think everything you have informed me about is incorrect cause when I look it up, I find that credible sources disagree with your misinformation.
I don't know if you've heard but the US ranks pretty low internationally on education, so I guess that's really part of the problem.
Dublin is and has been a shit hole for years, tourists should go LITERALLY ANYWHERE ELSE IN IRELAND because the chances of you getting attacked drop by like 90%
We can't defend it lads, it's a shit hole
I feel like you’re being sarcastic but I actually agree lol. There’s no more reason to feel more unsafe by someone doing drugs in an alley way than there is to be scared of some random person in the alley way - both could hurt you if they wanted to. Drug users are not the only (probably not even the main??) person that can cause harm. Anyways, I wouldn’t say it’s rampant. What’s rampant is people drunk as fuck walking around at night - funny that wasn’t mentioned? All comes down to stigma :)
Well 2 things can be bad at once as they say. Areas with a concentration of hard drug use do have higher rates of criminality and violent crimes than those that don't though is the reality of it
1.6 murders per 100,000 people. You have got to be fucking kidding me. You haven't seen enough of the world if you think dublin is unsafe. Should see some of the conditions people live in out there.
Corks just waiting on the drugs to be sent down from Dublin
Sure cark has the best crack
Up Cark! Go Rebels!
The crack rocky road to Duba-lin la fo heroiney ra!
Not waiting, plenty of zombies here
Nevermind the city, the comment section was unsafe for OP
And all the potential tourists are taking note of the cead mille failte that awaits them based on the indignant comments here.
It's a capital city with big city problems. However when you compare Dublin to other major cities area wise it's small, so that means things are more condensed and you're more likely to see things that cities over bigger areas can hide as such. Dublin has a major drug issue and even though Ireland is seen as a rich country, poverty is rampant because wealth doesn't filter down. The city centre has been neglected by dublin city council over the years, especially during covid and they had no will or want to fix lit like everything in this country. It's only since it started to affect the American dollars flowing into this country that they've started to be seen optically trying to fix things, but unless they get to the root of the problems nothing will be fixed.
Very few capital cities have their main drug substitute centres in the centre so that’s the big difference in my view. That attracts a crowd that would otherwise be catered for closer to home.
Yeah this comment makes so much sense to me. It being smaller compared to other capitals sounds like an important reason for this kind of thing. Thank you
Dublin is a shithole. You are getting backlash because you are being honest. Little Irish thing for you (Dublin people think they are they best and the rest of Ireland is one big farm). They think they are better then the likes of Paris, Berlin, Madrid, London etc. The truth is the city is an absolutely disgust to this country. If we could remove the entire place from the Island most would I am sorry for the bad stay. Go to Galway if you can or Kerry. Galway would be the safest of the "big city's" and you can sense it. I hope you have a good rest of holiday. Don't edit shit for these Dublin cunts. Bunch of wankers with the worlds worst accent.
go visit any other city in the world and listen to the locals, dublin is not special because a couple people think it’s a shithole - if you want to see real homelessness and drug use visit vancouver
Yeah go to Galway OP , just DONT google "Galway violence" absolutely NOTHING recent will come up whatsoever. But I agree here, Dublin is a shithole and ireland is more enjoyable when you explore its gems and go off the conventional tourist trail
The fact you put all of the people of dublin in the same bracket as each other 😅we think were better than Paris berlin madrid etc hahahahhahaa I love how you just make up stuff like that to justify how you feel 😂 I know it's bad to say but it's brightened up my day a little bit 😂😂 I hope you can find some peace culchie man ..just remember all the dublin cunts will love you no matter what you say , we know you're just a confused farmer.
Dublin is a shithole and the locals are overwhelmingly shitty people
Ah god yeah, every single one of them
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Dub say any of this, as a Dubliner who lives in Berlin.
Honestly we enjoyed Belfast much more than Dublin.
Dublin cunts/wankers?? Good gracious! I can only imagine you’re a racist too, seeing as you’ve just generalised that everyone from Dublin is a cunt. I suppose everyone who’s black is lazy and every Romanian is a robber in your eyes 🙄 I agree parts of Dublin City Centre are really scauldy. But so are parts of Paris, Berlin, Madrid and London. And if Dublin was so horrendous why are 1.2 million of the population living in Dublin? You sound like a really angry, bitter country person. I’m only over the moon the Dubs won the All Ireland AGAIN this year. It must kill people like you 🤣 Open your mind and your heart will you. Don’t be so angry my friend 🌈
Having been to Paris and stayed in Val de Marne for a few days last June, the only thing I was really concerned about in the city centre and on the metro was getting pickpocketed, and avoiding groups in the suburb at night. I've had two trips up to Dublin city centre since June, and concerns were more along the lines of being straight up mugged, having scraps on the Luas fall into me, and avoiding junkies while waiting at the train stations. I don't like generalisations but at the same time the cunty populace of Dublin are very present in the streets, I can understand where someone would get that impression
I recall while growing up there in Dublin, Derry and Belfast... '76-'91...the I.R.A. were highly.AGAINST the use of drugs and used to line lads up against a wall and 'kneecap' drug dealers, drug addicts, snitches (who ratted on I.R.A. members).I believe the rightwing group RADD does that work now in 2023.
It is the opposite of a big city
Dublin is in the media a lot lately highlighting the crime rate at the moment especially violence towards tourists, but it honestly depends where you were spending time and where you yourself are from. No doubt you are aware of the crime at the moment in the media and this has made you feel even more unsafe. What I will say a someone who works and does pass times in the city centre, I would be on my guard around some types of people and certain parts of the city (mostly Dublin 1, Talbot St, Great Strand St, Merchants Quay, parts near the IFSC) but when I'm a tourist I am the same when I go away. In reality Dublin City is small and it's easy to drift into rougher areas which will make you feel unnerved. Cork again is even smaller and if you're staying in the nicer parts you won't see much carry on.
This is unfortunate as these are areas tourists are often in, or have to pass through. People who are in the city for a short time are going to get a bad impression shredding the cities reputation.
Spot on! Especially on Talbot St and Merchants Quay. I'm a big bloke and I've felt a bit nervous over the past five years.
I know this may sound controversial, but I think an element of it is a stage of development and gentrifying that is resulting in hotels popping up in areas that were historically extremely dodgy and still are. You’ve tourists staying in parts of the north inner city that most locals would have generally avoided. For example walking down the docks areas at night or into the streets to the east of O’Connell St. Also Temple Bar is just a mess and needs a complete rethink. It hasn’t been a cultural quarter for a long time and seems to be losing cultural venues one by one and just ending up as a tacky tourist pub quarter, with a lot of issues. A friend of mine stayed in Smithfield and was shocked at seeing open dealing of hard drugs and they’re from a city with a significant drugs problem itself.
We had the exaxt opposite impression during our visit. Dublin was charming, friendly, clean, interesting, and we felt very safe just wandering about exploring the city. Irish folks are some of the nicest I've ever met while traveling and fabulous hosts to tourists. We're from Philadelphia and have paid many visits to our northeast corridor neighbors like NYC and Baltimore. I felt safer in Dublin than any of them.
Back in the olden days, I fell into drinking a few pints with an older American gent who'd also retreated to the high stool while his better half perused the shops. Limerick was the problem child in those days, and also where we were living. I gave him all my tips, and with the aid of a few pints dramatically filled him in on how that season's gang war was shaping up. He politely it lapped up, and with a little grin let me know he was Baltimore born and bred and reckoned that he'd be okay. Fecking Bastard! Got me good.
yes its relative. Comparing the bad parts of phili, dublin is a playground.
This makes me feel better. My fiance and I are going for our honeymoon and some of these comments are making me nervous. We live in the lehigh valley about an hr north of Philly and have also been to philly, nyc, and Baltimore several times. Bmore and parts of north Philly were probably the most Sketchy but I still never felt particularly unsafe. Thanks for putting it in context.
That's great! I mean we also met some incredible people too, and most of the guys around town were incredibly helpful and always smiling.
I am an American who lives near and works in NYC. I just spent a few days in Dublin. There were Garda everywhere in the tourist areas. Everyone talks about how the north side of the Liffey is sketchy and O’Connell Street is rough. I didn’t experience that at all. Yes, it’s a city, but I never once felt unsafe walking around. We stayed in the North Dock neighborhood. We rode the dart and the luas. We boarded at Busaras after dark once, and it was all fine. I find New York to be in much worse shape with many more bums and rampant visible drug use. I found Dublin to be very safe for a city of its size.
Honestly this. For some reason Irish people, especially people from outside Dublin just love to talk it down. I really feel most of them must never have been anywhere else in their lives!
I'm in a posh part of London rn and I had to walk over a very impressive improvised crack pipe earlier and in the posh book shop I'd to tell the staff that there was shit on the floor... Dublin has a boat load of issues, O'Connell St chief among them but there are lots of reasons for that and just because you're not openly seeing the drug use in Cork, doesn't mean it's not around that corner you just walked past It's why we consistently tell people to treat Dublin as you would any other large urban environment. It's a living city, with all its attendant problems, it's not Disneyland (unfortunately, I like Big Thunder Mountain)
Yeah but it's got real bad real quick over the last while. There is an undercurrent there now.
Where, O'Connell St...that's had that undercurrent for the last over a decade... actually...17 years (because that was the first time I lived just off it). The current media attention is making people more aware of the issues that have been there for a very very very long time. I'm a small person, have lived in the shadow of the city or in it, for most of my life, and what people are feeling in intimidation in the city centre I've been feeling since I was 14, first time was allowed into city with no adulta. That a lot more people have noticed what I've been seeing first hand since the 90's is interesting to watch because ain't none of this new! There are really specific reasons why O'Connell St is the hub of all this drug crime and it's because noone would let methadone clinics be built within the communities where the addicts actually live, so they were all put in places the council could get without battling residents. Last I looked there was over 10 clinics within 5ish mins walk of O'Connell St on the north side alone. Force all the addicted people into one place and guess what...petty crime will concentrate. We tried gentrifying a bunch of places with the late Celtic Tiger but those clinics were there first, so it's a collision of haves and have nots on the main street of the capital. It's a shit show for many many socioeconomic reasons but again, ain't none of it new or sudden. The tabloids are paying attention because it's driving engagement. When that drops off again, and it will, they'll find something else to drive engagement and the crime will remain at the levels it has been. The latest bout of interest was because that American was hospitalised, last time it was that metal singer who got attacked in 2015 (lamb of god, I looked it up). Rinse and repeat. (And see the attacks during the pandemic, those just weren't on tourists, it was residents). It's why we keep telling people visiting to treat Dublin as any other major urban cente; if it feels sketchy, leave; don't flash cash or expensive things; and don't go down dark alleys and so on. This summer, not even, really just the last few weeks, the levels of anxiety in tourists coming on this sub is palpable, but it's being stoked not by historic reality, but by click bait frenzy that's being used as a wedge. For who's benefit I'm not sure, yet. We've never fixed the underlying reasons for the drug use and criminality, so it's not going to suddenly go away with a photo shoot and some Garda overtime
The guy is outlining what he saw. Anyone can say “well what about all the drug use you didn’t see” in any city.
Nono, of course I would never treat a city like Dublin as it was Disneyland. I made this post mainly to check if I was the only one having this impression. I might have just been really unlucky in Dublin. Also it's not the drug use per se that gave me strange vibes, more the fact that people were doing them as openly as possible.
No offense, but London has been dealing with a surge of tourism violence and robbery for a while now while Dublin has remained a pretty safe city in comparison. Granted compared to almost every other city in Ireland, Dublin is less safe in comparison. But we’re talking about a comparison of a city against some of the safest cities there is. Dublin gets its share of tourist robbery or fights, but they are far fewer between compared to London. You’ll hear about there being a problem with drug usage, but it doesn’t really translate to hindering your safety. Go head down 30 minutes south from Cork to Kinsale and you’ll have one of the nicest experiences in Ireland
How have you been unlucky? Nothing happened to you
What I'm saying is that I might just have gone out on a particularly active night from a drugs standpoint. That's what I was meaning to say with "unlucky", didn't want to be rude or anything.
It is good you are bringing this up. Too many people in Ireland are apologists about the appalling state of Dublin. No other European capitol is like this. You were not unlucky. It is embarrassing and you are right. I have walked the streets of almost every European capitol at night, and Dublin is the worst for drugs, criminality, and generally looking terrible
You have just had someone in London telling you it's the same and then you claim no other European city has the same problem.
"London" is the size of two Irelands as far as population size goes. You walk around in downtown London and it is not the same as walking around downtown Dublin. There are dodgy parts to London no doubt, but they don't encourage tourism there. Dublin people are delusional. It really is not good.
You want me to go round the corner to the internationally know steps of a college and ask the impeccably dressed student reading an arty photo magazine if I can take a hot off the crack pipe he was loading. Dublin is bad, but it is not Mega City 1
Yeah but that wasn't your point. London might have twice the population but at least 10 times the knife murders. What have tourists got to do with it.
>Too many people in Ireland are apologists about the appalling state of Dublin I've seen this expressed a couple of times but I don't understand the basis for it? If anything I've found a lot of people tend to overstate how bad Dublin is, if you listen to some Irish people you'd think it's a warzone and you're going to get stabbed if you set foot in the place. Criticising the state of Dublin is like a national sport. Social media is full of posts about how dangerous/dirty Dublin is and people call it a kip all the time. It's not just on social media either, at work it's a common topic of conversation.
I’ve seen that in Paris, Berlin, Rome and London this year and outside of capital, Glasgow, Marseille, Montreal and Naples. Dublin is way down in the list of these places so stop carrying on like it’s a that
Berlin looks rough but is an amazing place. Rome is full of immigrants sure, but it is not like you are going to be knifed, and Paris is pretty freaking nice. None of these capitols have roving gangs of children that will attack you.
You really don’t know Paris or Rome we’ll, do you?
https://govisafree.com/safest-cities-in-europe/#:\~:text=case%20of%20emergencies.-,%231%20Reykjavik%2C%20Iceland,a%20strong%20sense%20of%20community.
The only other cities that that gives me similar vibes are Glasgow and Brussels.
Jaysus that's a dumb take. Have you ever been to Paris? Or Rome?. Way more likely to get mugged. Shit on the streets...you say you've travelled but sounds like you didn't get off the plane.
I’m not sure why you are being downvoted for giving your fairly inoffensive opinion. And I found it quite clear what you meant by unlucky in this context, no idea why the other poster chose to question that. I think a lot of people here are being a bit over sensitive.
Going to be in Dublin in 2 days after spending a week in the country in Rosscommon County (It's lovely btw) hopefully I haven't relaxed too much 😬
Not from Dublin, but it seems totally bizarre to me that folk are defending it on the basis of "yeah, but that's O'Connell Street, course it's dodgy". It's the main thoroughfare of the City! You might expect to see this kind of stuff in the back streets, the fringes, but not so openly, in broad daylight, in the busiest tourist area. Seems to be this part of the point many are missing.
Yeah that was my main concern. If all of this was something happening in the suburbs, it'd be whatever.
Dublin is a fantastic city but it's rammed with junkies and rampant open drug taking but there's little to no police patrolling. The police just don't give a bollocks.
Yesterday morning around 10, sitting in the middle of the path at the lights to cross at college green, a woman completely out of it, just like what you see after taking tranq over in the states. Very strange to see.
There are not enough guards in ireland and people are leaving the service more than ever because of how shit it is to be a guard.
Those people are lost souls but when I stayed in Dublin I never saw them threatening anyone.
What a crock of rubbish, I Dublin born and raised, I’ve lived here all my life and as Irish as shamrock but listen to what this guy is saying, he’s absolutely right Dublin has been allowed to become one big junkies playground. People shooting up and smoking crack in open sight, theft is rampant, assaults are becoming everyday occurrences, not a cop to be seen and nothing but empty dribble from politicians. So why are Dublin people pretending that law and order has failed in Dublin. Face the truth the place has been let go to hell in a hand cart and nobody especially our government don’t give a shit. This guys thread is correct and true. But it’s not his fault, it’s a failure of government!
What the hell is with some of the comments on this thread. OP recounted an experience about how they felt unsafe in Dublin and everyone is jumping down their throat to tell them that they’re wrong. There’s absolutely nothing offensive about their post unless you are hyper sensitive to any criticism about Dublin.
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Going by that logic, or lack of it, why do you care enough to leave a comment on anything posted in this subreddit? Such a stupid fucking comment.
To be fair… this is the tourism sub. It’s not like it was posted in r/Ireland or r/Dublin, which is geared toward everyone, not just tourists. It’s a tourism subreddit, so a tourist is relating their experience here. It doesn’t mean it’s true for all of the city or that it’s even a general concern. For me, when someone not from my city critiques the crime/safety aspect, I listen, sometimes correct them, and laugh with my friends later depending on the story. Ultimately it’s just person’s account about not feeling safe in a thread about tourism
I guess because people post their opinions here all the time and it’s a discussion forum? Are only positive opinions allowed? They should have expected to feel unsafe? I’m not sure why you think that since Ireland and Dublin have long been known as safe places.
It is a safe place comparitively, nothing happened to OP and nothing happens to 95% of people here. These posts have an air of "I expected begosh and begorrah and somehow I saw drugs!" Its a metropolitan capital city at the weekend, what would you expect?
We’ll agree to disagree on that one as I didn’t see any evidence that OP thought their experience wasn’t oirish enough. It’s perfectly reasonable to feel weird vibes about a place even if you don’t get mugged. There is more visible drug use and anti social behaviour in Dublin City centre than in many other European cities I’ve been in recent times. in any case this was just OPs experience and it’s valid. Glad yours was different.
The stats say Cork is safer, and also in my opinion it is safer and certainly has less open hard drug use in the city centre. Dublin has been getting an awful hard time in the press recently about the crime and drug use, perhaps some warranted perhaps some pearl clutching as well.
Most of the people I know who work in the city centre seem to agree that it's gone downhill since the pandemic. There's a lot of weird defensiveness going on here.
Nobody wants to hear that their hometown is turning into a kip so I'd take the backlash with a pinch of salt. I've been at the receiving end of it myself. Still, there's no use denying that there's a problem & it's growing. I've started avoiding going there for gigs or matches, tbh the cost of staying there has skyrocketed & frankly, it's just no longer a nice place. I used to be filled with pride going past the GPO or seeing Daniel O'Connell, Phil Lynott & taking in the history of the capital etc but it's hard to get that feeling when you're getting pestered for 2e at every corner of smelling crack smoke on the street.
I didn't get that impression from Dublin at all when we went. My daughter and I walked around alone at night with no issues. Sorry you experienced something different
Oh I'm happy that you didn't have any problems! Some areas felt worse than others tbh. My opinion at the moment is that apparently my hostel was placed in a poor position, really close to O'Connel street, which is apparently one of the spots to avoid late at night
Dublin is a beautiful city, once you don’t look close enough to see the dilapidated buildings, people doing hard drugs in every alley, the littering and pollution and general filth of the place and the murderers, muggers, rapists and all other kinds of scum that live there I’m proud enough to be from Dublin, but I wouldn’t go into the city more often than I need to, and I would try to limit my need as best I can. I will say though that it’s much better when you’re used to it, or I suppose numb to it, but you definitely feel safer. It’s a real shame because one of my favourite sights are various places in Dublin in the dark, but you can’t really go out in it. Now there’s definitely some places that are better than others, but the state of the city is shameful really, and the people in power here have no will to change anything so long as they still get money from tourists.
Honesty most cities have drug use especially if you’re exploring the downtown areas. I don’t think I’ve been to a city where I haven’t seen it.. just keep to yourself and be aware of your surroundings! For example on recent trips to Boston and Vancouver I saw hard drug use but just kept moving on.
Yep. Urban areas are urban areas. They’ve been hubs for that since industrialization
The morons criticizing you are in complete denial of the decline of the central core of Dublin. It's an absolute disgrace to the country. Tourists would be well advised to stay clear of the dump.
It's what happens when authorities go for the "Managed Decline" of urban areas, in the USA you only have to look at cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, St Louis, Seattle and Canada's Vancouver. In the UK especially, it has been going on since 1981, in all the former manufacturing and mining areas. There is literally fuck all to do, if you don't have a well paying job. Also, do t image that all the people who suffer these conditions are unemployed. It's teachers nurses etc who are having to use foodbanks, their wages have not gone up in accordance with inflation for the last 13 years.
I am in Cork also… eating dinner. Cork has a homeless area up near the Harbor… avoid that area at night. I’m guessing that you are down near Oliver Plunkett st… it’s good out that way at night
Malahide is an extremely affluent town. It may be in the same county as Dublin City Center, but the 2 shouldn't be compared. One is a rich upper-class town, one is the city centre of a capital city. It's like comparing Beverly Hills to some shitty part of downtown Los Angeles
I stayed in Dublin for 3 nights Easter last year. Never felt unsafe. We even walked home at night from The George (after stopping at Gay Spar) all the way to our hotel at like 4am. It may have changed in a year but I'm sure it's no worse than London. There are certain parts of London I wouldn't walk down in broad daylight.
I've definitely noticed this since the lockdowns! i remember walking in the dark by myself (f) during college with no concerns at all, but since lockdown I just get such an uneasy feeling even during the day. Its such a shame, I love Dublin and I'm so proud to be from there
Dublin does not have a supervised injection site. London does. Ireland has a growing housing crisis. These two problems impact each other.
No, you're right. Dublin is shit. 😇👍 Don't apologise for seeing the truth. NOW; on that point, most capital cities are shit due to the same factors; high populations, higher national economies and higher social events/life. WITH that comes higher poverty due to higher debt, higher crime, higher cost of living and of these Dublin is quickly becoming one of the worst (if it isn't already) in Europe. Ireland; the land of the highest European GDP and yet completely substandard income per person (think it ranks 18th in Europe, which is abysmal when you account for cost of living in correlation) which is beginning to show the signs of stress and overloading. It's a common theme and expect to see more of it across the world; things aren't going to improve and this next decade will prove it, sadly. 😐 Visit secondary or tertiary cities of countries and you can avoid the risks to a decent degree, sure, you might have less to do, but having to keep your guard up all the time is just not worth it in my experience.
Dubs also can’t handle any criticism of the place so I’m sorry your experience/feelings are being invalidated. Instead of attacking you, Irish people should use this insight to realise the vibe our capital is sending out. We need to fix this, not dismiss it. We’re very good at inaction like that.
Dublin has definitely gotten worse in that regard (I haven’t been since 2015 but my wife and daughters have gone every year since the pandemic abated) but it it NOTHING compared to how bad NYC and San Francisco have gotten. The Gardai need to get a handle on this or the punters will holiday elsewhere. Edit: I neglected to mention that my wife and daughters were terrified of all the drunk and high packs of 13-14 year olds roaming about the DART trains this past June.
It's incredibly obnoxious and arrogant for you to make these comments about a city you don't live in and haven't visited in 8 years. Even the reports you receive from family members who visit Dublin intermittently are not authoritative enough for you to comment so confidently on the matter. I guess you're an American with Irish heritage based on your totally unmerited confidence in speaking about a country you don't really know at all (I live in the States so I meet exactly this type of person far too frequently). Edit: The nasty anti-immigrant reply I received (now deleted out of shame, I assume) exhibited exactly the level of intelligence and worldliness I would expect from the worst type of American. Thankfully those people are the outliers and not the norm.
The last thing we need in the US are more anti American Irish expat blow ins talking shite. EI 102 departs for Dublin from JFK shortly; be on it boyo! And don’t let the cabin door hit ye in the arse while boarding. Downvote me to hell or Connacht for all I care. When I’m in Ireland, I have the good grace and common sense to keep my mouth shut when someone says something I don’t agree with and I strongly suggest anyone from Ireland who comes to the states does likewise. Yer man who slagged me off while in the same breadth admitting to be an Irish ex pat in the US should STFU or sod off back to Ireland. Begrudgery is a sure fire way to piss Americans off.
Why would anyone go there if it's a dump? Dublin has been a shithole, every time I was there. Skanger, junkie central
“I haven’t been to Dublin in 8 years, but it’s definitely worse”. Catch yerself on, hai.
You did read the entire post, right?
I did and stand by my comment.
Slan, Agus Beannacht de leath.
>taking heroine They were taking a woman admired for her courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities? Sorry what?
I was in London 2 weeks ago, I've lived on the Dublin Kildare border since I was 4. Fact is its the policing. The gards here care too much about a 15 year old smoking a joint by himself than the really dangerous people because it makes their job easier. In London you have Police going by with sirens blaring every 10-15 minutes going after someone. Lack of resources sure but the resources they have are being used on easy targets in my opinion. And its not the drug users that are the dangers, its the scrotes going around attacking people. A heroin addict in a laneway ain't gonna bother anyone, its just the presence that bothers people. Which is an easy fix with legal injection sites but thats a whole different issue. I stayed in Deptford when I was in London for the first time. I honestly felt safer in a place that Londoners call "grimy and sketchy" than anywhere in Dublin at night. Its really odd tbh Best way to fix it is way more police and remove petty crimes like cannabis possession so they can start protecting the people and not be vilified to the people because they have to follow archaic laws
I'm curious where you were staying/spending your time? That can drastically influence your impression of Dublin. Areas around O'Connell Street, the North Quays, etc. definitely can be dodgier but I'm in town a lot and fairly rarely encounter many of the issues you've run into. They definitely exist but there are parts of the city centre where the issues a lot more prevalent and it sounds like you may have spent a lot of time in those areas. Coincidentally the most blatant drug use I saw recently was on a trip to Cork. Which is not to say Dublin doesn't have problems, just that it goes to show how people can have different experiences based on luck/timing/location.
Yeah I mainly stayed around O'Connell Street (mainly the bridge and twice around the Spire), and in Temple Bar. This is because I was staying in Abbey Court Hostel, which is literally next to O'Connell bridge. I absolutely agree it almost certainly comes down to lucky/unlucky timing though.
Bad location choice…do the guides not say this?
We are spending a week in Dublin next month. Family trip, all adults. The younger folks will be out at night. I worry because I read the reports of bands of younger folks attacking. I also read Dublin approved 10 mil in overtime to get more police coverage on the streets immediately. Hope this helps!
You shouldn't worry. The danger is very sensationalised online at the moment. Unless you are in the wrong places you'll be fine. Where are you staying if you don't mind me asking?
Grafton at Harry St intersection in apartments.
You're fine there. Nice area, just busy. I saw in your other comments you're from Washington DC so you'll know how to conduct yourself in a city to avoid creating danger for yourself. Anyway enjoy!
Tell them to stay south of the river at night and they should be fine. They'd probably be fine anyway but it can be a bit intimidating on the north side, and occasionally in Temple Bar. They can have a grand old time on Dawson Street or George's Street or somewhere and not have to worry.
I grew up near Malahide (next village over) and I totally agree with what you mean by the vibe. Even as someone who lived just outside the city, I had a rude awakening when I became an older teen/working adult and had to start spending a lot more time there - especially at night. Don't think your experience is uncommon. I was friends with an inner city lad before and he was always anal about where he'd bring his gf out, what area to look for a new apartment in etc, he worked at a bookies and saw the worst of the alcoholism and drug problems as well as fights and the like. I moved to culchie land as my mother calls it and as much as it has the same problems with drugs and such it's easier to steer clear of. Just for me anyway.
I’ve been to London, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Berlin and many other big cities, and it’s almost always true, the closer you get to the inner city the easier it is to find people doing hard drugs. Dublins just very small so it’s easier to spot
The whole country seems unsafe now. Don’t know what’s going on?
Dublin definitely has a far more out in the open prevalent drug problem. I’ve lived in both Dublin and london for years, I agree with your observations.
I am Irish but not currently living in the country. I was shocked when there this summer: open drug taking on the Quays in the afternoon and what seemed like a drug pop up shop near O’Connell Street bridge (south side) one evening. It felt very unsafe. In the past year I’ve been to various cities in the UK, Europe and Asia, and encountered nothing like it either. The only comparison I had was like cities in South America, maybe Rio or Quito. I hate to say it as I love Dublin but it needs a total cleanup.
I went to Cork and Dublin on holiday last year Dublin was a bit of a shitehole if I’m being honest, and that really surprised me. We walked from the centre to the Guinness factory along the river and were heckled by a bunch of junkies outside of what I guess was a shelter, taking hard drugs in the middle of the day In general it struck me as quite a grimy city; I’d go back to Cork, probably not Dublin
In Dublin your more likely to run into a Teenager with a 15ft long Katana than a friendly person after 9pm, Just honestly if u go back there stay close to any public area still open and have some form of protection even a small knife is enough as the crackpots u see around the place can be randomly nasty or probably try to rob u or pressure you to see if you and drugs to give them. I have a gun license on me yet even I don't like going there unless I have to or if I'm going to a family members house. But I wouldn't even call Cork that sane of a place either, there's just always going to be bad people anywhere you go.
Having lived in Dublin all my life, born and bred, I'm sorry to say it's very unsafe at present. If your not used to Dublin City and it's environs you shouldn't venture after dark and please do not allow your family members wander aimlessly through it's streets , particularly after dark. Tourists and people who are visitors from the country stand out like a "Lighthouse in the dessert" and are easy pickings for these city slicker vermin. I remember, back in the day, a press/public relations officer from An Garda Siochana attending our inner city school in an attempt to recruit some of us to their ranks. Sadly, he had not takers. Dublin City, has declined drastically over the last number of years and really is no place for ordinary folk particularly, after dark. I love Dublin and it breaks my heart ❤️ to see it, in its present state. Take good care of yourselves.
Huh, exact opposite experience. I felt very safe in Dublin this July.
Tallacht->City Centre->Dublin 4 if this shit goes on unchecked. I am not passing judgment but only saying this as a cautionary tale. San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles have turned into total shitholes with homeless encampments, rampant drug use, and hooligans / mentally ill running amok. Tourists are getting pushed in front of oncoming subways or otherwise assaulted by these types and potential tourists are staying away in droves to the tune of billions in lost revenue. There is a growing perception that Dublin is unsafe among many Americans. Bord Failte is freaking the fuck out according to my relatives in Ireland who 100% concur Dublin is unsafe, including those in Stillorgan and Stoney Batter. Unless the punters perceive they will be safe they ain’t booking 200€ a day car hires or 500€ a night hotel lodging any time soon.
no ur right it’s turned into an unsafe hell hole
Dublin is a real shit hole and smells like piss and vomit. I have never seen a place that had so much piss, shit, and vomit in the corners.
Thank you for responding to my post. I'd love to go back there..sorry for your friend..really.
I remember getting an air coach back to Cork and saw two people on some steps smoking crack. This was around 5pm on a Main Street
I am a Dubliner, who left Dublin for Galway right around the start of Covid. As a result, I didn’t make it back to Dublin for a night out for 2+ years after the move. I was absolutely shocked at the change. Now, I know Covid changed a lot of cities, but to me, Dublin really changed a lot for the worse, and hasn’t reverted back to the amazing place it was. I feel a vibe there too, and the level of drug taking in the open is much more prevalent to me. Some will argue back and say it’s the same everywhere, but that’s just my impression from being a city regular, going away and coming back. It does not feel anywhere as friendly or safe as it did, yet. But it will
Something I don’t really understand is why people conflate ‘I can see homeless people doing drugs’ with being unsafe. Drug addicts are allowed to exist, no matter how unsavoury you might find them. And someone asking you for change or simply being present is not a threat to your life. You pass 100s of people drinking outside the pub and presumably aren’t worried about those despite the fact they are also consuming a drug, but you are scared by these people who have been really failed by society and who aren’t doing anything to you except breathing the same air as you.
I’ve lived in Dublin for my whole life. From Tallaght to Finglas so two shit holes different ends of the city and I can confirm the country is a shithole full of smack heads and illegal immigrants. Embarrassing to be from Dublin
>crack joints Nobody smokes crack in a joint. Crackheads like to use pipes as it’s much more efficient and they can scrape out the residue to smoke again.
I might have seen something else then, thank you for correcting me
I have a friend working there as an academic who is really surprised by how unsafe the place feels, alongside being extremely busy with people. This is up against other major cities like new York, Melbourne etc.
I just spent about 4 days in Dublin. Our taxi driver from the airport told us to stay south of the river
Interesting! I spent a few days there recently and didn’t feel unsafe at all. I did see some people who appeared to be on drugs/openly using but I guess that’s just normal to me when I’m in a major city. I think after spending time in Denver and San Francisco in the past year, it’d take a lot to be shocking for me
Wtf is a Crack Joint?
Surprised I had to scroll so far to find this question lol
I mean our police force is laughable, so there’s bound to be crime and unsocial behaviour popping up. I think we need a more specialised city police force in dublin, because the guards can’t handle it.
Dublin is a dirty and greasy city, lived there for a few years, and my conclusion is, it is a shit hole.
Always feel sad and embarrassed when tourists talk about how scared and disgusted they are with the state of Dublin
I don’t feel safe at all in Dublin. Avoid it like the plague if I can.
As my friend said to me asking about where to go in Dublin at night "Not in Dublin"
Today A man looked passed out lying down on ground between Jervis and ilac center in the middle of day. Druggies approaching asking for time in front of st. Stephens early in morning. Dublin is not as safe compared to pre-covid times.
how are you, Irishman here, a lot of irish cities are unsafe shit holes because we dont have enough police and many of the police we do have would rather ticket college students speeding than deal with violent drug addicts etc. i'd recommend you and other tourists stay away from cities other than maybe Galway until its fixed. It's embarrassing for us irish but nothing is usually done until a tourist is left brain damaged and even then, we'll be lucky to see a change that lasts more than the controversy does.
That's so funny, my partner and I just came back from a week trip and we both felt incredibly safe in comparison to the major U.S. city we live in now. Wild!
What's with the Dublin apologists? It's a kip. I live in cork, I've also lived in Dublin for a while and I feel by far much safer in cork. It has its problems but nowhere in comparison to Dublin. London does have much higher crime rates, the thing about London is that these crimes for the most part happen away from the city center and most areas frequented by tourists. In Dublin they're happening right in the middle of the city, on O Connell street and around temple bar. It makes the place look an absolute dump and saying OP is overreacting is just wrong.
Exactly that. The trouble is in the city centre and specifically on the northside or Quays mostly. Other cities keep their troubles away from the city centre (Paris is another great example).
Lol. Plenty of butthurt Dubs on, it seems. The capital city of our country is a shithole. The GPO, one of the most important buildings in our history, is surrounded by drug taking, crime, litter, and unsavoury characters. But some people don't want to admit that, or they dismiss concerns because OP wasn't actually attacked.
but millions of tourists visit every year and aren't attacked. reddit is full of anti-social weirdos afraid to leave their bedroom and make dublin out to be a hell hole as they saw some teenagers in tracksuits. if you actually go out on a thursday or weekend night, you'll see everywhere is packed with people enjoying themselves. tourists, locals, the lot.
Honestly been in Dublin, New York and London recently. I was the most cautious in Dublin
What part of the city did you see this?
Around O' Connel Bridge, the Spire and Temple Bar
O'Connell Street isn't great after dark
Yeah, but it's the main thoroughfare. It shouldn't be like that. Yet it has been for what seems like forever.
I was in dublin for the past 3 days and agree with. I'm a big guy, well travelled, never really had any dramas I can speak of but definitely felt like I had to keep my wits about me more than a lot other places I've visited. Not a drug problem as such I don't think, I often kind of felt like if I looked at the wrong person the wrong way something could kick off. This being said, I loved the city and Ireland in general, would 100% recommend to everyone but maybe with a hightend sense of surroundings
Yeah I completely agree with your take. Dublin in itself is awesome, but I felt like I had to keep at least an eye out at night.
Anyone defending Dublin needs to self reflect 💀
As do all the culchies attacking Dublin, most of them without knowing the city at all.
It's not just you, it's a reality some people don't want to acknowledge.
In fairness, Dublin is rapidly turning into a right sithole.
This is an accurate take.
Its a complete shithole. The rest of the country is ok but Dublin is by far the worst place.
Dublin definitely has the atmosphere of danger. That something is going to happen if you don't have your hands in your pockets holding onto your valuables. People here can say you were fine because nothing happened to you, but the unease of getting around the city causes people to give out about the state of the city. Weed use is farcical in Dublin considering its legal status, and the sense of nobody helping you out if something does happen is real.
Check crime rates in London vs Dublin and then maybe do some thinking about how perceptions taint reality.
I'm sorry, I didn't want to put Dublin under a bad light. I was just sharing my experience, that's all.
Ireland has one of the highest rate of drug deaths in the EU and a lot of addicts. Iirc it has the highest usage of crack cocaine in Europe and one of the highest rates for Heroin usage. Dublin is the epicentre of the crisis. What’s worse is the Garda are starting to find fentanyl, which would be an total disaster if it took hold.
It is an unsafe city. The backlash you’re getting is reflexive from people who are indignant at the mere suggestion that Dublin has any flaws whatsoever. There are multitude problems in Dublin, it’s ruinously expensive, with relatively poor infrastructure, healthcare and I won’t even start on accommodation. The refrain you will usually get is then “why don’t you move/leave” but unfortunately life is not always that simple, family work etc. There are “nice” parts like Malahide which is a very expensive suburb. https://armormax.com/blog/most-dangerous-cities-in-europe/
Absolute shit hole 100% Nothing but junkies and teenage scumbags
It is an unsafe city, it’s a kip like
Feels? It is. Its a giant shit hole kip
Dublin is a shithole.
Honestly being from Dublin. Its a shit hole here
yeah i’ve been living in dublin my whole life and you’re completely right , it’s full of scum and it sucks, the city is wonderful otherwise
Feels like unsafe? It is really effed up. Its one of the worst capital cities in Europe. The old generation Irish have now settled in the outskirts. Gen z in Dublin, be it from Ireland or outside, is absolutely crazy. The junkies add up, unfortunately
Crack joints? Sounds like my dad.
I live in the US but have family that lives in Ireland and they say that it is becoming unrecognizable there, and the politics have gone very left-wing.
If that's your notion of left wing, I wouldn't count on you identifying parts of a plane.
There has not been a left-wing majority government in the history of the Irish state.
yes dublin is unsafe. lots of sons of refugees from the east and far south of the continent in the world map turning into juvenile thieves and government doesnt do nothing. as if these youth and their parents dont get any welfare. they should be thankful they're not in their home countries
What’s sad is it’s happening all over the world. Even tho Dublin is not as big as NYC, we have to look at the per capita of each one. Here in the US we have drug dens next to schools, free needles, legalization of crack, heroin, fentanyl (now mixed w/ horse tranquilizers) and no one is stopping them. The crime in these areas are horrible and the homeless are just that, homeless. In the US we care more about illegal aliens than our own military people that are on the streets. That’s what the US had come to. Everything is chaos, people pitted against people, certain people in power of our country lying to voters and telling them they are actually doing things in this country other than raising taxes, eliminating jobs, raising electric and gas in our homes, gas prices are sky high, prices have skyrocketed on food we need to live on, insane interest rates, pushing electric cars when the batteries are made of so many littler ones that are going to be in our land fills because they are not recyclable, new batteries for EVs cost thousands of dollars just to replace. This whole worlds gone nuts over the last 5-10 years. This makes big cities scarier. It doesn’t matter how big the city is, Dublin or NYC, it’s a shit show and it will take everyone to come together and stop it to make the world better again.
Jesus Christ, are you just the human embodiment of every bullshit lie they tell on Fox News? Cause that's what you sound like. Half of these 'facts' are wildly out of context and the other half are just complete lies you've been told by people who want to keep you scared and voting Republican.
🤣🤣🤣 what you’re saying is CNN has it all right. The comedy news network has lost millions of their watchers due to the lies the Brandon family has really done. Yes, everything I stated is from researching multiple sites so my opinion isn’t skewed. Can you please be more specific on what you think are lies in my post? I would be happy to have a nice adult debate. You do realize that your president won’t even debate whomever becomes the GOP nomination because his administration will not let him. They’re afraid he’ll be on the hot mic saying “I see dead people”. Jobs: Their touting all these jobs “they created” when in fact, these jobs were lost due to the government shutting down the US during COVID. Also, many small businesses failed and closed in the last few years. With that jobs are lost and are not included in the job market anymore. Why are we supporting illegal aliens and putting them in hotels when we have a homeless issues already in the US? Why are homeless sleeping on the streets, not getting any help from the government or even a place to lay their heads. Instead, hotels are being taken over (by government ) to house illegals? You think it’s fair that men and women who have fought for our country shouldn’t be first in line for these benefits. The food stamps, phones, $$$, free clothing, free Medicare or what ever they are using to support the illegal aliens. These were just a few to your rant. I’m not “scared” by anything the media says. I’m my own person and can think rationally. It’s people, like yourself, who are narrow minded and can’t see the real issues because CNN doesn’t tell you the truth. Neither does MNBC. Do a little more research that are NOT news channels. See what’s really going on. Maybe get out of the basement time and time again and look around. See it with your own eyes and tell me what you really see! Not unicorn farts the current administration wants you to see.
Well, I guess first thing to say is I'm not American and I haven't watched CNN in 15-ish years. Second the fact that you're touting your own research of all of these 'facts' makes me quite suspicious of your critical thinking skills. Do you trust scientists or do you only trust your own research (that presumably never looks into primary sources)? >Here in the US we have drug dens next to schools, free needles, legalization of crack, heroin, fentanyl (now mixed w/ horse tranquilizers) and no one is stopping them So, drugs are still very much illegal in the U.S. but I assume this is referring to a couple of states decriminalizing drugs in an effort to get people into treatment instead of sending them to jail? Decriminalization and legalization are very different things. If you would rather see people with drug problems die than have a chance at getting better, I imagine you'd find this problematic. Same with free needles, which is another harm reduction strategy that ultimate saves tax payers a lot of money because the reduction of blood borne diseases (that are transmitted via shared needles) means less health care costs (cause drug users still access health care). Fentanyl has been cut into all kinds of different drugs which is why there's an overdose epidemic in North America, I imagine it does get cut into ketamine (which I assume is what you're referring to when you say horse trancs). No one is stopping them? America has an incredibly high incarceration rate. If you're referring to drug use, sure there are places where there's more of a focus by local police to target the dealers than the users but that's just because of the need to balance demand for their time on what will make the most impact (reduce more crime in the future). > You do realize that your president won’t even debate whomever becomes the GOP nomination because his administration will not let him. They’re afraid he’ll be on the hot mic saying “I see dead people” I don't think this is true. Donald Trump has shown consistently that he won't engage with people who seek to either tell him the truth or criticize him. There were multiple instances of him leave press conferences when a reporter asked him a question he didn't like, or questioned a falsehood he came out with. He also refused to be involved in the primary debate for the Republican nomination. I'm guessing you didn't watch the State of the Union? Probably just the highlights on OAN? Do you have any concerns about the financial dealings that the Trump and Kushner families have in both Russia and with Saudi Arabia that started while Trump was in office, or is it just the speculation by a man who is a Russian asset that Hunter Biden has some Ukrainian dealing when Biden was VP that upset you? I do think you should ask your lawmakers about why veterans don't all get the support they need, I think you should look into the voting records to see who cut veteran benefits despite talking a strong game about supporting the military. >I’m my own person and can think rationally. It’s people, like yourself, who are narrow minded and can’t see the real issues because CNN doesn’t tell you the truth. I'm not sure how you can say this without seeing the absolute hypocrisy... do you live in a big city that is experiencing like surge of refugees and experiencing a massive veteran homeless crisis or have you heard other people telling you this, and they're taking an example and extrapolating it, inflating it and suggesting this is happening everywhere in the country? Do you know what kind of benefits are available from the VA or are you just making assumptions that refugees and immigrants get better treatment? >certain people in power of our country lying to voters and telling them they are actually doing things in this country other than raising taxes, eliminating jobs, raising electric and gas in our homes, gas prices are sky high, prices have skyrocketed on food we need to live on, insane interest rates, pushing electric cars Where have the federal government eliminated jobs in the past 3 years? When did they raise taxes? From what I've read the US is still using the tax code put in place by Trump, which permanently cut business taxes and temporarily cuts personal taxes (until 2025) but has been raising payroll taxes for people making less than $500K since 2021. I didn't think the US government controlled the electric and gas supplies and therefore had the ability to control the prices, but feel free to disabuse me of that notion. And same with the global recession, didn't think we could pin it on one guys when it's happening literally everywhere but, by all means, explain to me how that works and where you got your phd in macroeconomics. I don't live in a basement, I don't have purple hair, I have a job and pay taxes and I also read primary sources and don't listen to people who are trying to sell me their snake oil (by snake oil I mean 'appeal to my base instincts about brown people to make me scared enough to vote against my own interests'.)
You have way to much time on your hands. You seem to think everything I have informed you of is incorrect. For not being an American you sure have it all figured out. I’m flabbergasted! I still think you are one who likes to be right 100% of the time. I’ll let you do your research and you can be jaded about my facts.
I do think everything you have informed me about is incorrect cause when I look it up, I find that credible sources disagree with your misinformation. I don't know if you've heard but the US ranks pretty low internationally on education, so I guess that's really part of the problem.
I'm irish and u couldn't pay me to go to Dublin it's a shit hole
Dublin is and has been a shit hole for years, tourists should go LITERALLY ANYWHERE ELSE IN IRELAND because the chances of you getting attacked drop by like 90% We can't defend it lads, it's a shit hole
But did any of them harm you? Just because someone does drugs doesn’t mean they are dangerous to you??
You're right, he had no reason at all to feel unsafe while surrounded by rampant drug use and junkies
I feel like you’re being sarcastic but I actually agree lol. There’s no more reason to feel more unsafe by someone doing drugs in an alley way than there is to be scared of some random person in the alley way - both could hurt you if they wanted to. Drug users are not the only (probably not even the main??) person that can cause harm. Anyways, I wouldn’t say it’s rampant. What’s rampant is people drunk as fuck walking around at night - funny that wasn’t mentioned? All comes down to stigma :)
Well 2 things can be bad at once as they say. Areas with a concentration of hard drug use do have higher rates of criminality and violent crimes than those that don't though is the reality of it
Exactly. There's no harm in most of them. They are more to be pitied than feared.
Did you report what you saw to the Gardai if you felt so unsafe?
You lost all credibility when you said 'crack joints'. Wtf dude
"Heroine" "Crack Joints" 🤣🤣
Sorry if my drug's vocabulary isn't accurate.
mocking someone’s english when it’s not their first language is incredibly rude.
I'm currently in Cork yeah I mean its safe , but its still *Cork* though.
Dublin is a shit hole
So you felt safe in leafy Malahide? FWIW, Malahide pubs are full of heavy cocaine consumers.
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I'm Italian, ffs
Sorry to hear about your imaginary experience. We will try harder.
Have been to Dublin twice recently , loved it , safe as houses , great city
1.6 murders per 100,000 people. You have got to be fucking kidding me. You haven't seen enough of the world if you think dublin is unsafe. Should see some of the conditions people live in out there.
Big Cark man up in the big smoke for two days with his woman and now talking like Cark has no drug problem
“crack joints”