Scumbags on Quay St last night!

galwaybob

cornbb wrote: »

Good stuff indeed... "Community policing" is a very pretty way of describing organised gangs of dangerous and violent bottom-feeders with a sense of self-importance stemming from paramilitary involvement. Community policing my arse. More likely to be a gang of drunken pricks who will use a phrase like "community policing" as a justification for beating the living daylights out of any young fella that looks at them the wrong way.

I wouldn't be perfect but I would be better than the current farce.

cornbb

galwaybob wrote: »

I wouldn't be perfect but I would be better than the current farce.

What "current farce"? A few drunken dickheads starting fights on Quay St. Is that really worse than balaclava'd gangs with baseball bats and guns? Grow up and get a sense of perspective for God's sake. You're insulting decades of effort in Northern Ireland to get rid of that sort of thing. You would turn Galway from a relatively peaceful and nice place to live, visit and go out, into a nightmare of a haven for paramilitaries and vigilantes intent on frightening and intimidating people. Thankfully it'll never happen because most people here have more sense than that.

galwaybob

cornbb wrote: »

What "current farce"? A few drunken dickheads starting fights on Quay St. Is that really worse than balaclava'd gangs with baseball bats and guns? Grow up and get a sense of perspective for God's sake. You're insulting decades of effort in Northern Ireland to get rid of that sort of thing. You would turn Galway from a relatively peaceful and nice place to live, visit and go out, into a nightmare of a haven for paramilitaries and vigilantes intent on frightening and intimidating people. Thankfully it'll never happen because most people here have more sense than that.

Irish Criminal Justice System = Farce

Galway is relatively peaceful compared with some places.
The peace process has brought an end to sectarian killings and Im sure the people of Northern Ireland are thankful for that. They are not thankful that the sense of law and order established by paramilitaries in underprivileged areas has now evaporated leaving those most vulnerable in society exposed to the intimidation of little scumbags who the PC brigade insist just need a little loving when all they really need is a good fcukin kicking.

WooPeeA

galwaybob wrote: »

Irish Criminal Justice System = Farce

"Justice" word doesn't fit there at all.

VanhireBoys

cornbb wrote: »

What "current farce"? A few drunken dickheads starting fights on Quay St. Is that really worse than balaclava'd gangs with baseball bats and guns? Grow up and get a sense of perspective for God's sake. You're insulting decades of effort in Northern Ireland to get rid of that sort of thing. You would turn Galway from a relatively peaceful and nice place to live, visit and go out, into a nightmare of a haven for paramilitaries and vigilantes intent on frightening and intimidating people. Thankfully it'll never happen because most people here have more sense than that.

Well I dont like to argue with a moderator but it worked in the north for years - The only people who were frightenend and intimidated were the scumbags - normal run of the mill Joe Ordinary had nothing to fear.
I hadnt a clue who these people were nor never came across them. By the same token I never came across many scumbags either.
See any connection....?

I agree that "community policing" would not work in Galway. There isnt enough disipline - There would be innocents targetted by loudmouth bullyboys on an ego trip thats for a cert.

And anyway Galway is safe,quiet and friendly no need for vigilantes. Its just the odd pocket of ill bred yobs that are causing the problem.

shaggykev

its going to get worse though

once the dole is cut the scummer will get worse and worse

Mr Cork Man

For a small size city i think galway is rough enough but then again there is no safe town or city in ireland.I have one question why aren't the local media reporting these incidenst?

paulhannon

Mr Cork Man wrote: »

For a small size city i think galway is rough enough but then again there is no safe town or city in ireland.I have one question why aren't the local media reporting these incidents?

Because the local media is **** and is only capable of reporting press releases and re-publishing/re-broadcasting other media outlets work.

paulhannon

last night in Galway i saw: a car window get smashed, a guy march around a group of tourists in a bar shouting Heil Hitler and making the nazi salute, a guy put his hand up a girls skirt and a **** load of scumbag/rednecks pushing and knocking people for absolutely no reason!!!

axiom32

[quote=paulhannon;61114403]last night in Galway i saw: a car window get smashed, a guy march around a group of tourists in a bar shouting Heil Hitler and making the nazi salute, a guy put his hand up a girls skirt and a **** load of scumbag/rednecks pushing and knocking people for absolutely no reason!!!
[/quote]

you reported this of course to the cops....

diverdriver

I lived in Dublin most of my life but worst incident I witnessed happened in Galway in Supermacs just up from Mill Street station. Plenty of Guards arrived quickly enough which begs the question for as to why they were all so close to the station.

The reality is everyone knows Spanish Arch is a trouble spot. In most countries, certainly in America in cities of similar size to Dublin, there would be cops standing around or patrolling regularly. Not that they would really need to in most US cities of comparable size to Galway. Yet how often do you see a uniformed presence there? Not enough is clearly the answer. I'm not in the business of blaming the police. But we really have to ask where they are. Possibly in Eyre Square? Who knows because I don't see them much.

It's not like the area is very big. Just a few streets with a concentration pubs. Trouble erupts so often in Spanish Arch that most sensible people avoid it completely so any you reading this here who chose to hang out there have only themselves to blame if they're accosted by a scumbag. Tourists don't know any better and they keep getting caught. Meanwhile the Guards are around 'somewhere'.

bigeasyeah

diverdriver wrote: »

Trouble erupts so often in Spanish Arch that most sensible people avoid it completely so any you reading this here who chose to hang out there have only themselves to blame if they're accosted by a scumbag. Tourists don't know any better and they keep getting caught. Meanwhile the Guards are around 'somewhere'.

Its a public place so if someone gets assaulted there its not their fault,they have a right to be there.
The Gardai have a reasonable presence around Galway City but they cant be everywhere at once and cant asked to act as childminders.

getonyourboots

The guards are too busy checking for car tax and bringing pensioners to court for having no TV license.

What did you see in supermacs anyway?

eamonnf

Was out with missus last weekend and this young scummer came up to me boasting how strong he was. Despite my best efforts to ignore him, he continued to inform me of how strong he was and he had hands of iron. Thinking fast, I said that if his hands were so strong, he should be able to hit the adjoining lamp-post as hard as he could to shake the light-bulb loose. After a little bit of winding him up, he decided to hit the lamp-post as hard as he could.

The expression on his face was priceless when he hit the lamp-post - he walked away with a busted hand. He must have done some damage to his hand. I'm still laughing.

This is the only way to beat the scummers - outsmart them.

diverdriver

Its a public place so if someone gets assaulted there its not their fault,they have a right to be there.
The Gardai have a reasonable presence around Galway City but they cant be everywhere at once and cant asked to act as childminders.

I knew someone would say that. That's like saying a person crossing the road with a green light doesn't have to look left or right because they have the right of way. Sure, they can put it on their tombstone when a car breaking the lights ploughs into them.

In any case I'm not actually sure you actually have the right to hang out around the area with a few cans of cider 'having a laugh' with your mates. Which is what too many people do. But whatever your rights you have to have common sense and avoid areas where the chances of being attacked are high. That's called commonsense.

No one is asking the Gardai to act as childminders, just to do their job. Crime prevention is part of that job. Their visible presence or potential presence is sometimes just enough. Is that too much to ask?
Incidentally on that point go to O'Connell street/Temple Bar in Dublin on any drinking night and you see a notable Garda presence. Spanish Arch and Quay street are tiny in comparsion.

Spanish Arch should be a pleasant place to visit. But almost every time. I've been there it's been blighted by the presence of the kind of people I wouldn't want to have anything to do with. Even on a day when there was an actual Garda video van sitting there.

As for what happened in Supermacs, well it was your usual. Drunken yobs make comments to girl, Spanish I think. Their male companion steps in and gets attacked by the mob for his trouble. The bouncers jump in and try to eject the trouble makers. The Guards arrive quite quickly, one gets slammed in the face for his trouble. After a lot of shouting and banging the yobs are dragged away, leaving the Spanish girl sobbing and the Spanish guy with a bloody nose. A very edifying spectacle and if I hadn't had a few drinks on me. I would have been horrified. Never saw anything like in Dublin and I spent plenty of time drunk on O'Connell street and Temple bar in my time.

lovelyhome

This post has been deleted.

padi89

lovelyhome wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Alcohol has everything to do with it and you'd be foolish to think otherwise.Personally i haven't seen any trouble in town in years, then again i don't bother with clubs and chippers anymore.

bigeasyeah

diverdriver wrote: »

I knew someone would say that. That's like saying a person crossing the road with a green light doesn't have to look left or right because they have the right of way. Sure, they can put it on their tombstone when a car breaking the lights ploughs into them.

In any case I'm not actually sure you actually have the right to hang out around the area with a few cans of cider 'having a laugh' with your mates. Which is what too many people do. But whatever your rights you have to have common sense and avoid areas where the chances of being attacked are high. That's called commonsense.

No one is asking the Gardai to act as childminders, just to do their job. Crime prevention is part of that job. Their visible presence or potential presence is sometimes just enough. Is that too much to ask?
Incidentally on that point go to O'Connell street/Temple Bar in Dublin on any drinking night and you see a notable Garda presence. Spanish Arch and Quay street are tiny in comparsion.

Spanish Arch should be a pleasant place to visit. But almost every time. I've been there it's been blighted by the presence of the kind of people I wouldn't want to have anything to do with. Even on a day when there was an actual Garda video van sitting there.

As for what happened in Supermacs, well it was your usual. Drunken yobs make comments to girl, Spanish I think. Their male companion steps in and gets attacked by the mob for his trouble. The bouncers jump in and try to eject the trouble makers. The Guards arrive quite quickly, one gets slammed in the face for his trouble. After a lot of shouting and banging the yobs are dragged away, leaving the Spanish girl sobbing and the Spanish guy with a bloody nose. A very edifying spectacle and if I hadn't had a few drinks on me. I would have been horrified. Never saw anything like in Dublin and I spent plenty of time drunk on O'Connell street and Temple bar in my time.

Yawn,yet more sensationalism.
Ive lived in Dublin for over a decade and I ve seen a lot worse than I ve see in Galway over the years.Galway is a city with a small town dynamic,if an unsavory incident occurs everyone hears about by word of mouth and thus the said incident not only becomes blown way out of proportion but can be seen as an exaggerated example of the times we live in.
Spanish Arch is not a no-go area,you can get attacked anywhere and if this scaremongering continues nobody will go anywhere.
Also your opening analogy is contextually unsound.

Webbs

bigeasyeah wrote: »

Yawn,yet more sensationalism.
Ive lived in Dublin for over a decade and I ve seen a lot worse than I ve see in Galway over the years.Galway is a city with a small town dynamic,if an unsavory incident occurs everyone hears about by word of mouth and thus the said incident not only becomes blown way out of proportion but can be seen as an exaggerated example of the times we live in.
Spanish Arch is not a no-go area,you can get attacked anywhere and if this scaremongering continues nobody will go anywhere.
Also your opening analogy is contextually unsound.

+1 having lived in a lot of places in the UK (cities and towns) then couldnt agree more, the beauty of Galway is that it is a smallcity/large town but that has drawbacks as mentioned that isolated incidents become big news.
The places I have lived in the UK were far worse for trouble and you just made sure that you avoided some areas at certain times of the night/morning, the same would apply to Galway and basically means avoiding a few chippers at 2 in the morning.
Galway in comparison to most UK places is a very safe place to be

Mr Cork Man

I wonder if this was limerick would the national media be having a field day?

http://www.galwaynews.ie/8158-two-young-men-sentenced-stabbing-and-assault-city-centre

sparklingdude

Sh*t happens in Dublin all the time. You can't go from point A to B without some scumbag messing with you. Things got better for awhile, but are quickly reverting to form. Coked up scumbags, piss-drunk at noon, badgering you on the sidewalk. Cork is... Cork: antisocial behaviour seems to be the commonly accepted form of behaviour. I'm sure people from Limerick think its a great place.

The thing I like about Galway is the relative dearth of scum. Puking kids is fine, it's a university town. Random fights at bars are fine too, people drink. But it's the chavster sh*t disturbers that totally piss me off.

These people are easily identifiable and the cops know what parts of town they are from (the crap ones). I like the American approach. If they wander a couple of blocks too far from their neighbourhoods, the cops are on their a*ses. "Let's see some ID... what the hell are you doing here? Up against the car." That kind of stuff. The city centre just isn't for them, and good old fashioned police harassment works just fine.

The other problem is country folk. Not quite knackers, not quite civilized. "Intermediates" if you will. If they need a break from sheep-shagging, can't they just go to Athenry?

lovelyhome

This post has been deleted.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

lovelyhome wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yeah they really turned New York around in the 90's, Giuliani introducted a zero-tolerance policy on any crime petty or otherwise, it still has it's neighbourhoods to be very much avoided but generally you feel very safe walking around.

When you look at Galway in comparison, you'd think we shouldn't have such a hard time making our streets safer, but unfortunately ethnically cleansing all the scumbags prob wouldn't go down too well for us in Brussels

sparklingdude

Brussels be damned, let's build a wall.

Mrs OBumble

Don't we already have a wall, or at least a pretty high fence, in one part of the city?

Has any of the reading you've done about New York mentioned what happened to the proportion of teenagers in the population at the same time? (ie following declining birh-rates 20 years earlier).

sparklingdude

No, but I've heard stuff like this before. Are you suggesting that it wasn't tough policing, but less teenagers about?

bigeasyeah

Well Guiliani was considered a legend for what he did in New York but Galway now is not 1970s-1990s NYC,that place was nasty.

dysfunct

whats the story with that mobile unit sometimes parked at the arch, should it just be parked semi permanently?
mainly thursday, friday, saturday, sunday til the wee hours maybe?

diverdriver

Sh*t happens in Dublin all the time. You can't go from point A to B without some scumbag messing with you.

Really? Having lived most of my life in Dublin and knowing it rather well. I can tell you that's BS. Sure there are rough areas of Dublin and sure there are times in those rough areas where you would be better not staying around. But in the main it's as safe as anywhere else of comparable size and population. I might add I grew up not too far from Tallaght so it wasn't a cosy little middle class estate in Foxrock or Dundrum.

And bigeasyeah, I've no idea what you're on about. I was there six foot from the incident and saw it all and no I never saw one as bad in Dublin. Guess that makes me lucky. As for my analogy, well sorry. I should have come up with a better one.:rolleyes:

People here seem in denial, The 'That kind of thing never happens in Galway' mentality has to go. It has happened, it is happening. Murder, rape on the line, stabbing in Shop street. Yeah, it never happens in Galway. The reflex defence is to point to Dublin or Limerick and say how terrible those places are. Well we're not talking about those places, we're taking about Galway. It has changed and it is changing. The OP saw a bad incident near Spanish Arch not in Temple Bar. I, with all due modesty consider myself a streetwise Dub. If I felt uncomfortable on a couple of occasions in the area then maybe there was a reason.

At the moment things are not that bad, but they're worse than they were and there is a danger things could deteriorate. Facing up to them now might prevent it getting worse. Galway is generally safe but there is no God given law that says it will stay that way.

Quite frankly, most of it could be prevented by simple pro-active policing. That seems to lacking right now.

cL0h

diverdriver wrote: »

I knew someone would say that. That's like saying a person crossing the road with a green light doesn't have to look left or right because they have the right of way. Sure, they can put it on their tombstone when a car breaking the lights ploughs into them.

This is an absolutely farcical analogy. It's not acceptable for someone to be mowed down crossing at a green light. It means someone was driving too fast or not watching and should be arrested and charged with manslaughter or murder. It doesn't mean the victim acted inappropriately.

diverdriver wrote: »

In any case I'm not actually sure you actually have the right to hang out around the area with a few cans of cider 'having a laugh' with your mates.

I believe your right not to get kicked in the head is enshrined in the constitution whether you are "having a laugh" or drinking cans or neither or both.
The natural conclusion to conservative advice along the lines of : "It's your own fault for going down there." is that we all build big walls around our houses and never step outside again.