I know what's needed lads... you have to go down to their level... they live in a different world to you and I.

They have no respect for the law, they have to respect for themselves, they have no respect for the City or the Country... I know what I'd do with a wild dog if it bit one of my kids. Do you understand what I'm getting at....?

The Guards know these lads and lasses by their first names for God sake... they are there every single day, off their heads and selling drugs. Every day....

The syytem does not work as it currently stands. It does not work.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 28/05/2010 15:33:50    660922

NavyNBlue
County: Dublin
Posts: 534

660836 Sad but true Omar. When you make the walk from Grafton St over the Liffey to O'Connell street the difference is scary. The boardwalk along the quays is the druggy business centre. All along Bachelors walk you have some real dodgey characters, shame as its such a nice walk when we have good weather. Parnell street, Moore St is starting to resemble a ghetto.

I walked that very walk this morning. I was on Grafton St first thing because I had a problem with my mobile phone. Anyways I was dodging on down towards the IFSC for work and this reprobate comes up to me, sees the Vodafone bag and demands it off me. You know the type, unkempt late teen, possibly early twenties. White socks tucked over the bottom of tacky tracksuit bottoms and the hoody barely concealing the saucer-like pupils. I had my bag of washing (for Mammy!) with me on the shoulder so I leathered him with it. Not a wise thing to do I know and I would never have done it otherwise only that there were lost of other working people close by. I have to admit afterwards that I fairly quickened my step and got to work.

They literally are like rats and to see them brazenly doing what they do right in our capital city centre sickens me.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9913 - 28/05/2010 15:37:47    660929

Hillstreetblue - i was nearly bottled in eyre square, galway in the middle of the day a few years ago because the thug thought i looked like a garda he knew. the problem is countrywide make no mistake about it. the law is on the side of the criminals. your point on the suday worls is good - the sunday world isnt doing much good only making these guys heros among each other. down my way there have been a spate of robbereis especially when there is a funeral on in the area and houses are empty(how low can you get).

In my opinion we will all have to take a hard line approach no surrender to the s**m. and before someone says i take to hard a line. its our lazy and relaxed culture in this country "arragh sure it will be alrite..." that has got us into this mess.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11700 - 28/05/2010 15:43:16    660935

You are right Breffni about the treatment centres in town and there are hostels all around that area too. Said that to a cop one time and he said reason for that is they prefer to have them in town rather than scattered around the estates where they would be even a worse nuisance and less easier policed. Can sort of see his point and people shouldn't have to put up with centres on their doorstep but as I said they should be treated while locked up, not allowed roam free.

Like Navy and Hillstreet I would not be a fan of mass immigration BUT I don't blame immigrants for crime although there are significant numbers of certain immigrant groups up to their necks in it and they should be deported. Poles are generally sound people and probably have lower crime wave than any of the rest of us. Same with Aisans.

Don't know where it will end but it won't be pleasant that much I do know. Indeed one of few bright spots in place is the GAA and the county teams which at least give Dubs a bit of pride in their city and believe me there is little else to be proud about.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 28/05/2010 15:43:48    660937

Hope you hurt him Lockjaw, and would seldom say that about a 'culchie' attacking a Dub ;-) I have it drilled into my ones never to carry their phone or ipod or bags that look like they might have something of interest. Sad but true and I even do the same myself from moment I leave the house. Feel like an awful coward sometimes :-(

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 28/05/2010 15:47:01    660941

Lockjaw, thing is, your meant to let that fuker attack you!!! Let him attack you, let him syringe you, and THEN call the cops! And they will then proceed to tell you they have nothing to go on! But if you attack him....the PC brigade will blame you!!!
Why they dont have a bus going up the quays past custom house is beyond me. That place, from IFSC to O'Connell Bridge Via Custom House is lethal, and you have to walk it

Hillstreetblue (Dublin) - Posts: 163 - 28/05/2010 15:55:53    660947

I could have hit him with a block hammer and he probably wouldnt have known the difference. Man he was OUT of it!

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9913 - 28/05/2010 15:59:09    660951

Hurling Dub I was going to say that. I think thats why we are SO passionate about the GAA team that represents us and I think thats why people who have no great GAA blood in them, no roots in a club etc get so passionate about the Dubs. As a people we have little to be proud of. Our once great city is destroyed, so we cling to the Dublin GAA team as some sort of romantic notion of what it means to be a Dub. We all know the stories of the 70's. We still idolise those lads today. Dublin GAA no matter how poor we are gives us something to cling to, something to have pride in. Our city is changed, but our pride is in tact none the less.

Hillstreetblue (Dublin) - Posts: 163 - 28/05/2010 16:01:33    660955

One of the other factors I find is the sheer lack of respect young people have today. I'm definitely sounding old now and maybe it is a generational thing where we start saying 'back in my day...' I remember a bunch of lads from my area growing up there were cheeky little gits, regularly in trouble in school and eventually in trouble with the law. But when you hear about happy slapping or 15 year old kids in groups attacking 2 blokes just walking down the street!! Its mental. I knew that if I even said anything remotely derrogatory to an adult when I was 15 I was liable to get a good smack from them and then another off my auld fella for acting the eejit.
When you see those shows Neighbours from hell or the fact more people where you live are starting to look like rejects from the Jeremy Kyle show you really wonder where society is going
I live in relatively new estate on the northside. When our new bus route opened up which helped our area no end. Within a couple of months little gits where stoning the buses and before we knew it Dublin bus were threatening to cease the service because of these attacks. Who own these kids? Where are their parents? Wouldn't surprise me if their parents were the ones telling the kids to use pebbles instead of big rocks as they could throw more of them quicker!!

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 28/05/2010 16:05:19    660960

We have them here too lads
trust me

Mikeynora (Limerick) - Posts: 888 - 28/05/2010 16:07:30    660961

Hillstreetblue
County: Dublin
Posts: 125

660947 Lockjaw, thing is, your meant to let that f****r attack you!!! Let him attack you, let him syringe you, and THEN call the cops! And they will then proceed to tell you they have nothing to go on! But if you attack him....the PC brigade will blame you!!!
Why they dont have a bus going up the quays past custom house is beyond me. That place, from IFSC to O'Connell Bridge Via Custom House is lethal, and you have to walk it

Yeah thats the thing.... It's unreal isnt it. They can operate as freely as they want, and destroy or City and no one can touch a hair on their heads in order to stop them,..

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 28/05/2010 16:16:33    660973

Hand on heart lads... I'd feel worse for killing a fly.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 28/05/2010 16:18:07    660978

I've lived in the North inner city for most of my life, a couple of years in Paris and three in Galway. I could tell you a few routes that you shouldn't walk down in Paris at any time of the day too.

The North inner city has its problems but the suggestions of zero tolerance won't solve them imo. Yes they will go some way to curbing the 'visible' element of the problem but the blight that effects our community will remain.

In fact it could worsen in real terms because people from outside would assume that if they can't see the problem, it dosen't exist.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13833 - 28/05/2010 16:26:46    660990

A simple start would be to build more prisons, and give tougher sentances. But this isn't about to happen anytime soon as the country cant afford it.
Forced sterilisation to stop the reproduction of scumbags is a possible alternative.

Lebowski (Meath) - Posts: 363 - 28/05/2010 16:47:41    661017

MesAmis zero tolerance would mean locking them up and so they would be removed as an immediate danger. New York, from a far worse situation, also proves that you can reverse the slide into anarchy in that way - their murder and rape and muggings rate fell enormously. Liberals don't like the idea of locking up large numbers of the 'disadvantaged' but it works! Better to have them on Rikers Island or the Joy than roaming the streets. It would also act as a deterrent as others would think twice in situation where they know that mugging someone is not going to be punished by an non custodial sentence until you have done it about 100 times. New York is unrecognisable from the city it was in the early 1990s. The whole lenght of the west side of Central Park is now safer than Dublin city centre whereas you would have been taking your life in your hands to wander past the upper 70s 20 years ago.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 28/05/2010 16:49:08    661022

Thanks for the comments lads - Was meant as a genuine observation so glad that it was taken up that way.
Must say I was genuinely shocked and do think that it is worse than years ago.
I know that O Connell street and around westmoreland street was never the best place to hang around at night but what struck me was how messy the place was in mid-afternoon.

MesAmis has a fair point about Europe but I was actually in Paris 2 weeks ago and yes to the east of the Eiffel tower and around Montepernasse etc it can be a little unsightly but nothing like what I witnessed yesterday and in particular on the main street. As I said most cities are dodgy near the main Bus/Rail terminals so to some extent you expect that around busaras but the main tourist streets are a lot clearer - yes you have hawkers and tat salesmen in Paris and Rome but you are not as likely to get a syringe in your face.

I agree with the zero tolerance point - there should be designated areas that have heavy shopping and tourist footfall that should have zero tolerance for begging loitering etc. Also I do feel that the retail licences and useage should be much more heavily regulated. Our main streets should have clothes shops, Cafes, Restaurants not amusement arcades, takeaways, Tourist tat etc

Omar.d (Cavan) - Posts: 1141 - 28/05/2010 16:51:03    661027

Forced sterilisation to stop the reproduction of scumbags is a possible alternative

Yep.

If they refuse

Death.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 28/05/2010 16:57:03    661036

What's worse is that people visiting Dublin will form the lazy stereotypical view of Dubliners. I know a good few decent North-inner city Dubs at this stage, likely good folks like yourselves, and it's a sad thing to say but it's what will happen. Even more so than it is already! ;-)

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9913 - 28/05/2010 16:57:05    661037

The big problem with policing is that all the prisons are over-crowded and the criminals and drug dealers know this. A lad from quite near where i live was given 3 months recently and was sent home from prison after two days as there was no room for him. It is 5 to a cell in some parts of Mountjoy at present and like a powder keg waiting to explode. This lad was laughing his head off in the local pub saying that he should have committed more crimes as he would have been out after two days anyway. The Garda know that it is a waste of time too as the people they arrest are back out on the streets in no time laughing at them. The simple fact is that there is now no deterrent!! Things will get much worse !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 28/05/2010 16:57:59    661038

Well Lockjaw, at least they seldom wear the sky blue! Noticeable actually that the s**** have no interest in the Dubs and indeed I have heard of a good few Dubs fans being attacked on match days along the canal and other dodgy spots before and after games.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 28/05/2010 17:01:16    661045