Why is Ireland so dangerous

shoegirl

monosharp wrote: »

I asked people why any of the windows haven't been smashed. The answer I got back; "Why would anyone break them ?" and that simple answer explained it all.

I hate to say it, but you really do have a point there. Recently Owen O Callaghan complained that when they opened the new Boots in the Opera Lane centre in Cork, a bunch of yobbos took the trouble to deliberately drive a shopping trolley through its specially reinforced doors on its first day of opening. In broad daylight, just for "fun."

Another one is wanton vandalism against cars. Please hands up if you've managed to live in an urban area for more than 6 months without either a break-in attempt against your car, or damage to a visitors car. I've had 3 attempted break-ins, my ex partner had 2 incidences of car vandalism, and my brother stayed one night in a friends to find both his wing mirrors kicked to bits. My own most recent one included some scumbags taking glass cutting equipment to my windscreen . . .

willie mason

I've lived in Dublin, Limerick and Waterford and I've seen a fair few drunken rows and that sort of carry-on. I used to walk home from nightclubs at all hours in all those towns and I've never been the victim of an unprovoked attack. I must agree that these places look terrible at 3 am but they're mostly harmless unless you want to have trouble. The few rows I've been in have always been at least partly my own fault, my mates or a combination of both. I've only ever been a victim of crime once when my car window was broken and my car was ransacked and that was on a very, very, posh leafy street in Donnybrook and it was nothing more than an inconvenience. I'm a fairly tall lad and probably look like more hassle than it's worth to start on though I don't think I could handle myself too well. One point I'd make about Dublin is that I don't understand why people go to Temple Bar when the Camden St-Harcourt St-Leeson St area is so much less messy and more good humoured.

Someone mentioned Naples as being rough here, couldn't disagree more. Was there for a week. Quite drunk most nights walking through the city and it never felt dodgy. Random people used to hail us a taxi or tell us a good place to go. My mate lost his phone that he needed for work when we were pissed the first night. I rang it and explained in my pidgin Italian where our hotel was. A random bloke showed up on a scooter after 10 minutes with it, my mate gave him €20 and he didn't want to accept it but did after a while. Soundest people ever.

Ditto Moscow, St Petersburg, Chicago, Berlin, Helsinki and a few more. I've stumbled drunkenly through all these cities and I've never had any bother. I wonder do some people just attract crime and trouble?

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

lightening

shoegirl wrote: »

Please hands up if you've managed to live in an urban area for more than 6 months without either a break-in attempt against your car, or damage to a visitors car..

Car owner for sixteen years. Lived in the inner city and now in the North East suburbs. Never ever had any of my cars touched. They ranged from cheap Fiats to performance cars.

This "why Ireland is so dangerous" thread has turned in to a place where people can basically sneer about Ireland from their lofty perches. A very very Irish trait, and you won't get more of these types of Irish traits in Irish people that live abroad! There's also the good old Dublin and Limerick bashing, not one good word. But that is to be expected. I agree with a lot of you, the vandalism is bad, ugly and horrible, toe rags are around, they are a hassle for people.

I don't like disorder and vandalism either, but, Ireland is still one of the safest places to live.

I know you have wonderful lives in exotic places. But, believe me, Ireland is not at all that bad.

julien05

dont think ive ever once been attacked in dublin limerick cork galway london amsterdam spainish/portugese seaside resorts berlin prague aint seen nothing either ! except a few in dublin on random nights all boils down to alcohoil

when i was 11 12 13 dublin was a war zone though you could nt go anywhere without a bunch of ruffians trying to nick your runners or something like that.

southsiderosie

To be fair, I think it is somewhat true that you don't realize how odd your situation is until you get out of it. I grew up thinking that it was normal for carry-out places to have bulletproof glass dividers, to see homicides on the news every night, and for public officials to deem it their right to rob the public blind. Then I left Chicago and saw that it was possible to live in a safe, functional urban environment. That isn't to say I don't love my hometown, but I know it's a pretty ****ed up city in a lot of ways compared to other large metropolitan areas.

I had the same experience when I moved to Europe: I started in Dublin, which felt like a vast improvement over Chicago...except for the yobs. Then I moved to Madrid, which felt like an improvement over both Chicago and Dublin, both in terms of personal safety and the general atmosphere of city life. That said, both my ATM and credit card numbers were stolen in Spain, and I know my wallet is more likely to be stolen here than anywhere else in Western Europe. But I'll take it over being another "innocent bystander" on the south side of Chicago, or paying a fortune in rent only to step around heroin addicts and drug dealers on my way to work in central Dublin...But that's just my personal preference.

themandan6611

having travelled in vietnam, thailand, lao, oz, new zealand, argentina, brazil, bolivia, brazil over the last year I felt safer in all these countries than I do walking down o'connell street - never once when travelling did i feel uneasy or scared like I do in Dublin around town.

copacetic

this whole thread reminds me of all the threads with people saying the bike scheme would never work in Dublin, they would all be robbed, vandalised, the 'scum' would get them. What happened? Absolutely nothing.

The stock is constantly damaged, vandalised and having to be replaced in Paris.

seclachi

This thread is very anecdotal, you could live in some of the worst citys in the world for a year or two and see nothing, just because of randomness. Likewise, I think the person who has been mugged 10 times was unlucky in some respects.

OldJay

masteroftherealm wrote: »

1. I honestly don't believe that you have lived in Israel then, either that or you walked around in some sort of haze. Sorry I don't believe or agree with your opinion

Resorting to calling me a liar just because what I post doesnt' fit in with your ill-informed comments is just desperate.

masteroftherealm wrote: »

2. My Father was from Copenhagen yes, and agrees with me and believes its gotten worse in last 10 years

And Copenhagen hasn't? Sure . . . sure

masteroftherealm wrote: »

And yes I have been our in Copen well after midnight and never had a single worry

Etter det du skrevet om Israel dette er utrolig.
Helt rart.

masteroftherealm wrote: »

3. I don't think their not happening, but I do KNOW that they're a lot safer cities than Dublin.

What a naive thing to say. You don't "KNOW". Have a read in today's Aftonbladet. Get your Dad to translate. If I can understand Swedish then so can he. Its a tabloid but you'll get the picture. Bugger all crime?? :rolleyes:

OldJay

lightening wrote: »

This "why Ireland is so dangerous" thread has turned in to a place where people can basically sneer about Ireland from their lofty perches. A very very Irish trait, and you won't get more of these types of Irish traits in Irish people that live abroad!

Irish do love their begrudging. Its almost an art-form.

FTA69

nesf wrote: »

I just find this odd, have lived in Cork for about a decade and never once had any trouble and can count the number of times I've seen someone else in trouble on less than one hand.

Fair enough. I've seen scores of scraps, a few stabbings, a number of mass fights involving weapons, numerous car thefts and there's been two shooting incidents in the area in which I live (Travellers with shotguns). I've been robbed once when I was twelve and when I was about seven a shower of sh*theads took my shoes, why you'd want a pair of dirty New Balances is beyond me though. Similarly I've seen the usual hodge-podge of drunken violent incidents in town on a Saturday night. That having been said I'm from a deprived area and the above activity tends to be universal within deprived areas the country, and indeed the world over. Violence and crime tend to be byproduct of social marginalisation and deprivation, that's an explanation and not a justification before someone jumps in.

My point is that things generally are relative, if you live in the Mayfield parks or a council estate in Mahon you're going to be more than familiar with violence and crime, if you don't frequent these areas then you probably won't. Same story in any city for that matter.

So is Ireland dangerous? I'd say it is in the sense you're much more likely to get a hiding in Dublin or Cork or Belfast than you are in Brussels or Genoa. That having been said it isn't a complete bloodbath on the streets or anything; Irish cities may be dodgy but they hardly compare to your Johannesburgs, Kingstons, Port Au Princes etc.

seclachi

FTA69 wrote: »

nesf wrote: »

Fair enough. I've seen scores of scraps, a few stabbings, a number of mass fights involving weapons, numerous car thefts and there's been two shooting incidents in the area in which I live (Travellers with shotguns). I've been robbed once when I was twelve and when I was about seven a shower of sh*theads took my shoes, why you'd want a pair of dirty New Balances is beyond me though. Similarly I've seen the usual hodge-podge of drunken violent incidents in town on a Saturday night. That having been said I'm from a deprived area and the above activity tends to be universal within deprived areas the country, and indeed the world over. Violence and crime tend to be byproduct of social marginalisation and deprivation, that's an explanation and not a justification before someone jumps in.

My point is that things generally are relative, if you live in the Mayfield parks or a council estate in Mahon you're going to be more than familiar with violence and crime, if you don't frequent these areas then you probably won't. Same story in any city for that matter.

So is Ireland dangerous? I'd say it is in the sense you're much more likely to get a hiding in Dublin or Cork or Belfast than you are in Brussels or Genoa. That having been said it isn't a complete bloodbath on the streets or anything; Irish cities may be dodgy but they hardly compare to your Johannesburgs, Kingstons, Port Au Princes etc.

I agree with many of your points, but I think Irish citys are safer by virtue of the fact there smaller, I was in Brussels for a week and I saw somebody get mugged, something I have never seen in Cork. More people means more scumbags. That been said I have been in Australian city's, and they feel very safe to me, I think alot of it is psychological, if your in london for instance you feel as if your almost bound to get robbed just because it feels like such a dirty city, even though it may not be that bad.

Angry Troll

FTA69 wrote: »

nesf wrote: »

[...] Irish cities may be dodgy but they hardly compare to your Johannesburgs, Kingstons, Port Au Princes etc.

agree with that...compared to the world's real serious crime and murder capitals dublin seems like a safe and cosy little village...at least here you are unlikely to get killed outright, just threatened, robbed and beaten up and all that...which is still very annoying...i think we can only really compare similar size cities in the western world here...

FTA69

but I think Irish citys are safer by virtue of the fact there smaller

That makes no difference, Baltimore is only around 700,000 people and it's much more violent than Los Angeles or New York which are far greater population centres. Similarly I'd think Limerick has a higher crime problem than Cork, and it's a much smaller city in terms of area and population.

if your in london for instance you feel as if your almost bound to get robbed just because it feels like such a dirty city, even though it may not be that bad

.

I lived in London for about two years and rarely felt intimidated, although I did end up in a few scraps over there. I've been in more dodgy situations in Dublin or Cork than I have in London.

Oracle

I would agree with the sentiment of this thread. Ireland does feel more violent to live in than other countries. Even London feels safer. There's so many reasons for this, too complex to go into in a forum post.

Of the top of my head I can think of a few.... the disregard for law and order left over from the British era, the highly conformist and homogeneous nature of Irish society (ie. if you're any way different and you're a legitimate target), the lack of emphasis on individual rights, as opposed to family and group rights. Ironically, being young and male also means being fair game for violent attack, such is the respect (quite rightly) for women and older people. Add in the Irish love affair with alcohol, the big binge bender, and the macho drinking culture, and you have the perfect backdrop for violence, lawlessness and disrespect of others.

Terrontress

Oracle wrote: »

I would agree with the sentiment of this thread. Ireland does feel more violent to live in than other countries. Even London feels safer. There's so many reasons for this, too complex to go into in a forum post.

Of the top of my head I can think of a few.... the disregard for law and order left over from the British era, the highly conformist and homogeneous nature of Irish society (ie. if you're any way different and you're a legitimate target), the lack of emphasis on individual rights, as opposed to family and group rights. Ironically, being young and male also means being fair game for violent attack, such is the respect (quite rightly) for women and older people. Add in the Irish love affair with alcohol, the big binge bender, and the macho drinking culture, and you have the perfect backdrop for violence, lawlessness and disrespect of others.

believe it or not, on Tom Dunne's show on Newstalk 106 they said that the British rule's strict status made us follow authority without question, leading people to turn a blind eye to sexual abuse of children by priests. We can't blame the Brits for everything. Either they made us molest kids or destroy our society with violence and wanton destruction. But not both! I wonder which one it is.

lightening

themandan6611 wrote: »

scared like I do in Dublin around town.

I think you might have issues to be honest.

Was out from six to two in the morning, food, drinks, out and about. Didn't have a huge amount to drink, but Dublin was hopping, people cycling around on the Dublin bikes, great atmosphere, crowds and crowds in the restaurants, pubs and clubs. I didn't see one bit of trouble. As usual. Anyone else out in the towns, villages, cities last night?

MiniDriver

The worst place I've been to in Europe is Naples - the whole atmosphere of that city is evil - far worse than the UK and Ireland.

I think one of the problems with Ireland and the UK is that they both seem to have a subconscious social convention that alcohol leads to (and is therefore an excuse for) violence. Although for example the Germans drink just as much as we do, they don't have the same tendency to post-pub aggression, because their social conventions emphasise that alcohol is not an excuse.

It reminds me of a survey done on heroin addicts in New York in the 1980's where researchers analysed the stashes of addicts, and found that many of them were so adulterated with flour, talcum powder etc. that there was no heroin in them. The researchers concluded that they weren't addicted to heroin as such, but that the social consensus that heroin was addictive was so powerful that it kept people in addictive behaviour even when the real drug wasn't there.

This is all related to the placebo effect. Essentially if you give people the impression that drinking alcohol will make them lose all control of their behaviour, then that is the result you will eventually get.

dsmythy

MiniDriver wrote: »

The worst place I've been to in Europe is Naples - the whole atmosphere of that city is evil - far worse than the UK and Ireland.

I think one of the problems with Ireland and the UK is that they both seem to have a subconscious social convention that alcohol leads to (and is therefore an excuse for) violence. Although for example the Germans drink just as much as we do, they don't have the same tendency to post-pub aggression, because their social conventions emphasise that alcohol is not an excuse.

It reminds me of a survey done on heroin addicts in New York in the 1980's where researchers analysed the stashes of addicts, and found that many of them were so adulterated with flour, talcum powder etc. that there was no heroin in them. The researchers concluded that they weren't addicted to heroin as such, but that the social consensus that heroin was addictive was so powerful that it kept people in addictive behaviour even when the real drug wasn't there.

This is all related to the placebo effect. Essentially if you give people the impression that drinking alcohol will make them lose all control of their behaviour, then that is the result you will eventually get.

Interesting post. It certainly makes clear that changing attitudes away from the acceptance of bad drunken behaviour is the key.

SLUSK

As much as I really hated living in Ireland I must say I never felt unsafe anywhere. I lived in Dublin 15 and I was going to tesco in the middle of the night in the weekends to buy a salad or something. Nothing ever happened to me.

Hank Scorpio

sorry but imo this thread is pure horse manure.

iv been to paris, berlin, brussels etc and had quiet a fare few incidents ( all being sober )

i lived in tallaght for 7 months, in the heart of it, and not once did i even have a finger put on me, or called upon into a confrontation, for a so called rough area, i also experienced the same in limerick and cork city, where i lived for 2 years, walking directly through the city centre night after night after work. Yes i seen plenty of fights, but all involved idiots who were drunk and talked too much

tbh op, imo, ireland is safe once you mind your own buisness and dont act like a pleb when your on the beer.