The State of O'Connell St

Boulevardier

The closure of Guiney's and the continuing threat to Clery's poses a huge danger to the fabric of the street and its environs.

If Clery's does not survive, there will be no way back for our Capital's main street. It will be an irretrievable slum.

FreudianSlippers

Boulevardier wrote: »

The closure of Guiney's and the continuing threat to Clery's poses a huge danger to the fabric of the street and its environs.

If Clery's does not survive, there will be no way back for our Capital's main street. It will be an irretrievable slum.

Clerys has been taken over and is not closing. The deal was pre-made and it was not in danger, unlike Guiney's.

Boulevardier

Slippers, I hope you are right and we have been told it is so, but for how long?

This should serve as a wake-up call to DCC and all Dubliners.

A radical contingency plan for the area is badly needed.

Odysseus

Odysseus wrote: »

Ah now come on, that last bit is utter sh!te, firstly not every addict spends their day hanging around town. Lots of them are too busy with work and things like that.

Now yes we should be don't more to facilitate a drug free life for those who want it, that doesn't mean that it will become a reality for all addicts. We need to work with those who for many different reasons will never be drug free, the interventions we use there will range from reducing associated harm Hep C/HIV to methadone. If somebody can engage with life, family and work responsibilites whilst on methadone why shouldn't they?

It may be unacceptable to you, but tha is only your opinion. Is it based on any psychological or medical training, becasue that is what we provide medical and psychological treatment, it is not a case of "free drugs" as some people think.

I perfer to work in a methadone clinic as opposed to a drug free centre, it is more comlex work; but more enjoyable too. You don't see the clients who engage in treatment and address their addiction, because they are not hanging around. Addicts are people, of course we need to respect their human rights, to think we can just over-ride that is ... Well tbh I don't know what to say

What do you suggest? That we round up all addicts? What then? What if they are that damaged that life without drugs is not an option? What would you suggest we do there

Please do resort to call me a PC whatever, I believe if you break the law you should be punished. I have to write court reports for people and if are not engaging in treatment I have no problem letting the judge know. However, I don't believe that just because a person is on a clinic that they lose all their rights.

Hi Odysseus,

I wouldnt agree with you on a lot of stuff, but I have read a few of your posts, and I'll say this, you seem to have a very decent soul, and if I was unlucky enough to be on heroin, Id want someone like you in my corner.

regards,

Jake

Boulevardier

Jake1 and Odysseus, your posts are not about O'Connell St. They are about drugs. The 2 problems are connected (unfortunately) but they are not the same subject.

Could you please discuss those problems on another thread?

John_Rambo

Boulevardier wrote: »

Could you please discuss those problems on another thread?

Are you for real?

Boulevardier

Yes Rambo I am. Have another look at the thread title.

My posting about Clery's is on-topic. There are other threads for discussing drug treatment services.

I am therefore asking the moderator to intervene.

The Hill Billy

@Boulevardier - Cut out the back-seat modding. If you have an issue with a post - report it & let a moderator take action if they deem it necessary. Your posts are only causing the thread to go further off topic.

tHB

The Hill Billy

@All - Please stick to the thread topic. General chat/comment on drug addiction, etc. should be taken up elsewhere.

tHB

Sincere apologies Hill Billy.

I just thought that since drugs were discussed as far back as page 2 of the thread, it woulndt have been a problem, commenting on someone who worked with the drug addicts.

Wont happen again.:)

Boulevardier

Hill Billy, I thought my post was the same thing as reporting it!

I'm never great at finding the correct channels for things like that.

Mr Simpson

Boulevardier wrote: »

Hill Billy, I thought my post was the same thing as reporting it!

I'm never great at finding the correct channels for things like that.

Nope, to report a post, go to the post and click the icon that looks like a warning triangle underneath the username. It will then prompt you to explain why you are reporting the post.

RSU

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

s.5 of the 1994 act allows for our ever so helpful Gardaí to instruct them to stop and arrest them if they do no desist.

Arrest them IF and only IF on being approached and asked, the fail to stop. therefore when they finish their piss and are told to put it away, they cannot be arrested.

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Wait, you're a Garda and you think that public urination is NOT something a Garda can stop you from doing?

That speaks volumes about the training you received.

Before you run off with a smart comment, read the post and then show the law that applies. ERU said it does not carry a power of arrest straight away and it does not. Section 5, Criminal Justice (Public order) Act 1994 only allows a Gardai to request you stop pissing in the street. Once you stop, no power of arrest. ERU was very specific that during the DAY there was no immediate power of arrest (arrestable offence by the way is any that carries 5 years or more)

ERU never said the Gardai could not do anything at all and just that during the day the Gardai could not automatically arrest for it and they cannot.

CucaFace

Anyone else catch the sickening prolonged attack on O'Connell street yesterday?

Basically 1 skanger tried to kick and stamp another guy to death for over 5 minutes (I’ve never witnessed an attack lasting so long in my life) in front of hundreds of Tourists, kids and by passer bys.

Id especially like to congratulate our fantastic Gardai for not even having 1 Garda in the vicinity of the one of the most notorious area's for drug dealing and common criminality in Ireland. Bravo.

This happened directly across the street from the GPO at 3 O’clock in the day.




Yesterday was yet another shame on Dublin, and as far as I can see nobody is anything about this.

cson

Spent Grand National weekend in Liverpool and generally could not get over how clean and generally bereft of the dregs of society the City Centre was. Just brought it home to me how grubby and scummy Dublin can be in the City Centre.

CucaFace

Most cities in the world don't generally allow the scum to take over City Centre area's like has been allowed to happen in Dublin.

And the fact that this just happens to be the first stop where tourists get off the bus from the airport just makes it worse.

I don't understand why nobody in the Gardai or the Govt is held accountable for this?

Surely they set some tagets for crime in certain area's and surely they would put area's like O'Connell street at the top of the list of places where these kind of things cannot be allowed to happen?

howiya

CucaFace wrote: »

Most cities in the world don't generally allow the scum to take over City Centre area's like has been allowed to happen in Dublin.

And the fact that this just happens to be the first stop where tourists get off the bus from the airport just makes it worse.

I don't understand why nobody in the Gardai or the Govt is held accountable for this?

Surely they set some tagets for crime in certain area's and surely they would put area's like O'Connell street at the top of the list of places where these kind of things cannot be allowed to happen?

The minister of justice would hardly want them taking over the leafy suburbs of Dublin South instead...

FreudianSlippers

I said it before an I will say it again: this is a failure of policing and city planning/enforcement.

Slightly off OCS, but I heard through a friend about a girl being mugged on the North Quays near OCS in broad daylight at knifepoint. WTF?!

The_B_Man

Ye, we definitely need to reduce the number of people living so close to O'Connell St. Its not like there's a shortage of houses in the suburbs.

FreudianSlippers

The_B_Man wrote: »

Ye, we definitely need to reduce the number of people living so close to O'Connell St. Its not like there's a shortage of houses in the suburbs.

That's pretty much the opposite of what I'm saying. You want to just abandon it and leave it to the junkies and yobs? You must work for DCC :P

donvito99

If we had the cash, i'd love to see a cop-on-every-corner style approach adopted in the O'CS/Temple Bar area.

liffeylite

move the rehab centres out of the city centre! not all of them, but most of them. dissipate the junkies and allow the guards to move people on or arrest them. its such a simple problem to solve with the right legislation, but it does seem as though the govt and the city council simply don't care.

it is the worst thing about Dublin and from a tourist perspective it is such a put off. the country needs money and investment and yet continual anti social behaviour is allowed to happen over and over again. what happens to the cctv footage I wonder.

even in London you don't see the same levels of anti social behaviour centrally. its more confined to the rougher neighbourhoods but Dublin just seems to roll over and accept it. its unpleasant for residents and equally so for tourists. added to that it costs the economy financially. I don't get why they allow it to happen.

mattjack

liffeylite wrote: »

move the rehab centres out of the city centre! not all of them, but most of them. dissipate the junkies and allow the guards to move people on or arrest them. its such a simple problem to solve with the right legislation, but it does seem as though the govt and the city council simply don't care.

it is the worst thing about Dublin and from a tourist perspective it is such a put off. the country needs money and investment and yet continual anti social behaviour is allowed to happen over and over again. what happens to the cctv footage I wonder.

even in London you don't see the same levels of anti social behaviour centrally. its more confined to the rougher neighbourhoods but Dublin just seems to roll over and accept it. its unpleasant for residents and equally so for tourists. added to that it costs the economy financially. I don't get why they allow it to happen.

What rehab centres are in the city centre ?

hmmm

You look at the abuse an average guard takes on the street and compare it to any of his peers elsewhere - you wouldn't give the same lip to a New York or German cop who wouldn't be long calling in backup. Because the guards have adopted this "ah now lads" approach to policing, which works on nice middle class people but not on the hardcore, the average citizen is mostly unprotected (or at least feels unprotected).

We need proper effective, forceful, policing for a start. This doesn't apply just to O'Connell Street but the rest of the country also.

La_Gordy

I think the worst part of O'Connell St, where it really really looks like sh!t is beside Dr Quirkeys. For a dilapidated building to be on one of the main streets in the first world is unbelievable!

EyeSight

hmmm wrote: »

You look at the abuse an average guard takes on the street and compare it to any of his peers elsewhere - you wouldn't give the same lip to a New York or German cop who wouldn't be long calling in backup. Because the guards have adopted this "ah now lads" approach to policing, which works on nice middle class people but not on the hardcore, the average citizen is mostly unprotected (or at least feels unprotected).

We need proper effective, forceful, policing for a start. This doesn't apply just to O'Connell Street but the rest of the country also.

100% agree! i think punishments should be more severe also.

As for movie rehab centers, if you make them hard to access, junkie won't use them. We have a terrible junkie problem and i think getting rid of treatments is a bad idea.

I say it all the time, we have a terrible attitude to change. No politician has any motivation to take a risk which may benefit us. If a politician took a risk and did something drastic to help this city i would give them so much respect. If i doesn't work out we can always go back to the way things are now

mattjack

EyeSight wrote: »

100% agree! i think punishments should be more severe also.

As for movie rehab centers, if you make them hard to access, junkie won't use them. We have a terrible junkie problem and i think getting rid of treatments is a bad idea.

I say it all the time, we have a terrible attitude to change. No politician has any motivation to take a risk which may benefit us. If a politician took a risk and did something drastic to help this city i would give them so much respect. If i doesn't work out we can always go back to the way things are now

Which ones are in the city centre ?

Mr Simpson

mattjack wrote: »

Which ones are in the city centre ?

I think they mean the methadone dispensaries, theres lots of them in the city centre

sdanseo

I like O'Connell Street.

I don't like those that inhabit it - junkies, scumbags and other assorted muppets need to be kept away from it. Gives a shocking impression to locals, not to mention tourists, etc.

Mr Simpson

sdeire wrote: »

I like O'Connell Street.

I don't like those that inhabit it - junkies, scumbags and other assorted muppets need to be kept away from it. Gives a shocking impression to locals, not to mention tourists, etc.

I had a nasty experience on O'Connell Street a few weeks ago. I was walking down the street with two mates, some randomer decided he was going to grab me and tried to hit me.

I'm not exactly the smallest guy. I knew O'Connell Street was bad, but this kind of shocked me.