The State of O'Connell St

EyeSight

darklighter wrote: »

DCC & the central government dont have the bottle to make the tough decisions needed to re-gentrify the city centre. This issue is a microcosm of the problems facing the country & while we, the people (and yes, it is the fault of the people), keep electing the same ineffective people (and their relatives) to be our politicians, problems like O'Connell St wil continue to be ignored.

completely agree. I don't think anyone in power has the balls to try anything new or bold. Why would they risk it? By the time it works they might not be in power to take credit and if the people aren't that bothered its not worth the risk.
A few months ago i posted in a thread about some junkie/drunk experiences i had one night and was accused of making it all up because some citizens of Dublin refuse to see it.

its such a shame to see the state of OCS, with the right investment and work it could be the nest street in Dublin. IMO grafton street is too narrow, especially when you allow buskers

Magenta

I would LOVE for O'Connell St to get some nice shops, restaurants etc on it.
It's the widest street in the country and could look fantastic if only it was cleaned up.

donvito99

That plus a Parnell Sq regeneration would be brilliant.

Talbot St is looking very worn also.

Infact, let's re-do the entire streetscape for the city of Dublin. It's a shambles

carlmango11

donvito99 wrote: »

That plus a Parnell Sq regeneration would be brilliant.

Talbot St is looking very worn also.

Infact, let's re-do the entire streetscape for the city of Dublin. It's a shambles

The Southside is ok, the Northside needs serious work. And not just more ugly "modern" chunks of s**t, actual restoration.

CucaFace

donvito99 wrote: »

That plus a Parnell Sq regeneration would be brilliant.

Talbot St is looking very worn also.

Infact, let's re-do the entire streetscape for the city of Dublin. It's a shambles

But really you won't get large shops and outlets to go and pay big money to operate around these streets while outside their premises an army of Zombies, drug dealers and down and outs are left to their own devices.

I agree this part of the city should be done up, BUT only after the major social problems that have been left get way out of hand are solved first.

And the only way to do this is to take a very hard-line approach to those who hang around this area every day. Again surly the use of ASBO's could be used here?? I just don’t get why the obvious people are allowed to generally hang around these streets every single day.

Use ASBO's ban them from these public areas and lock them up whenever they set foot in this part of the city.

Out of curiosity, what exactly is the Lord Mayor Of Dublin Responsible for?

Pmaher

CucaFace wrote: »

I agree this part of the city should be done up, BUT only after the major social problems that have been left get way out of hand are solved first.

There's no point in doing anything up when there are drug treatment clinics in the area. That's the reason it's scum central.

SimonTemplar

JupiterKid wrote: »

Times Square in New York was a complete dive in the 70s and early 80s - full of homeless, beggars, hookers, drug addicts and assorted miscreants.

However it went through a huge clean up in the 90s and is very clean and safe today. Perhaps Dublin City Council could learn a few lessons?

It's not just about learning a few lessions, it's also the will to act. I've been living in Dublin since Jan 2007 and nothing has changed. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. It's not just O'Connell St but Abbey St, Talbot St Westmoreland St and the quays.

I'm tied to Dublin for the next two years due to a college course but I really can't wait to leave. I'm not saying other cities don't have scumbags and drug zombies but they aren't as visible as in Dublin from what I've heard from friends living abroad.

I'm so glad I don't have to wait for buses at O'Connel St. I'm not easily intimidated but it can be an unpleasent experience at times. I especially remember always being approached by a guy in an English accent. There was something very creepy about him.

It's only a matter of time before a tourist gets stabbed or something, it will be the scandal of the week and then it will be forgotten. NOTHING changes in this country.

carlmango11

SimonTemplar wrote: »

I'm so glad I don't have to wait for buses at O'Connel St. I'm not easily intimidated but it can be an unpleasent experience at times.

Tbh I've been getting buses on O'Connell Street for 20 years now and I've never felt uneasy. I wouldn't like to have to wait on the likes of Aston Quay though.

liffeylite

SimonTemplar wrote: »

It's not just about learning a few lessions, it's also the will to act. I've been living in Dublin since Jan 2007 and nothing has changed. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. It's not just O'Connell St but Abbey St, Talbot St Westmoreland St and the quays.

I'm tied to Dublin for the next two years due to a college course but I really can't wait to leave. I'm not saying other cities don't have scumbags and drug zombies but they aren't as visible as in Dublin from what I've heard from friends living abroad.

I'm so glad I don't have to wait for buses at O'Connel St. I'm not easily intimidated but it can be an unpleasent experience at times. I especially remember always being approached by a guy in an English accent. There was something very creepy about him.

It's only a matter of time before a tourist gets stabbed or something, it will be the scandal of the week and then it will be forgotten. NOTHING changes in this country.

I think you have to put t into context.

yes, this area can be very unpleasant. But as has been said, it is not the biggest job in the world to significantly improve the issue by removing the treatment centres from this area and banning people loitering in the area who are obviously begging and or intimidating people.

there is no negative consequence to the govt for this as these people are not contributing at all to society or the standard of living for others around them. to remove them, place them in treatment an hopefully give them a better life going forward is a win win for all.

however, tarring the whole of the city with this brush is highly unreasonable.
the south city centre, whilst not without its problems, is mostly a lovely area.
there are very few places across the uk and Ireland where you have the beautiful Georgian architecture, open parks like St Stephens green and merrion square, coupled with all the fantastic facilities Dublin has. the range of Restaurants, pubs, shops museums etc is second only to London.

On a rare warm sunny day, walking around the south city centre=Dublin can look truly beautiful. it is easy to take for granted what you have. coupled with it being by the sea(something London doesn't have and it suffers for it) it genuinely is a fantastic place and time sent elsewhere will prove that.

mattjack

liffeylite wrote: »

yes, this area can be very unpleasant. But as has been said, it is not the biggest job in the world to significantly improve the issue by removing the treatment centres from this area and banning people loitering in the area who are obviously begging and or intimidating people.

When you suggest removing treatment centres , are you talking about methadone clinics ?

liffeylite

mattjack wrote: »

When you suggest removing treatment centres , are you talking about methadone clinics ?

yes. not completely from the area. but from my understanding there are quite a lot of them in the north city centre and this is not usual practice in other cities. the more you have the more users you will get hanging aroud the area.

also, if these are council owned buidlings, the govt could look to sell them, build new facilities in the suburbs and hopefully have some cash left over from the sale of prime land.

mattjack

liffeylite wrote: »

yes. not completely from the area. but from my understanding there are quite a lot of them in the north city centre and this is not usual practice in other cities. the more you have the more users you will get hanging aroud the area.

also, if these are council owned buidlings, the govt could look to sell them, build new facilities in the suburbs and hopefully have some cash left over from the sale of prime land.

Very difficult proposal you're suggesting.There's about 16 or so clinics in the city
catering for city centre residents,homeless etc so if you move them does everyone on a clinic have to travel too.

Similarly do we move our mental health supports, various hostels , drop in centres , needle exchanges and even the doctors and dentists etc who treat people in addiction along with the various drug free , stabilisation and aftercare groups.

Treatment often starts with harm reduction , methadone stabilisation , detox , residential and aftercare , quite a lot of supports to move.

The Hill Billy

I don't think that moving clinics would necessarily be acceptable or feasible as I'd imagine a lot of the clinic attendees live in or very close to the city center & not out in the suburbs.

This issue is that they've got SFA to do all day after they've had their fix/whatever & just congregate on the streets.

Hootanany

Move the Foy clinics into an industrial estate away from main areas of population.
Or just let them have pure Heroin administered in a Hospital environment , this is done in Switerland

The Hill Billy

What's your source for that? I live in Switz & that is the first that I have heard of it.

bobin fudge

if you google , should see alot of various sources. Im sure it was done around 10-20 years ago as a trial over there due to the large amount of users with aids and a certain park that was notorious for injecting.

Im not 100% certain if the programme is still in operation at this time

mattjack

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I don't think that moving clinics would necessarily be acceptable or feasible as I'd imagine a lot of the clinic attendees live in or very close to the city center & not out in the suburbs.

This issue is that they've got SFA to do all day after they've had their fix/whatever & just congregate on the streets.

I'd even argue with you about having SFA to do , lots on methadone go out their business living their lives with all its trappings, kids, education etc .

Often the people you see about the city are extremely disenfranchised living very difficult lives.

There is methadone provision in lots of suburbs alongside LDTF and RDTFS

Maybe looking at our methadone provision might be a better idea... we look to stabilise and more or less leave it at that ,sometimes holding people for long periods on prescriptions in excess of whatever is needed to access treatment.
Detox being provided by charitys etc.

Lux23

What we need is a heavy Garda presence, the minute the Guards turn up they generally tend to move on but you could be on Talbot Street for 20 minutes and not see a cop, it's ridiculous. It's odd but I have only seen beggars questioned twice in all the years I've lived in Dublin city centre, should be zero tolerance for panhandling.

Hootanany

The Hill Billy wrote: »

What's your source for that? I live in Switz & that is the first that I have heard of it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-12-19/swiss-drug-addicts-given-free-heroin/1184806

The Hill Billy

Not wanting to drag this thread further off-topic, but I'll be damned! This is quite different to how it was described to me by the locals. Interesting. Now, back to the O'Connell Street issue...

RossFixxxed

Every single day this happens. O'Connell street.

How do I get this safely removed?

mikemcdeedy100

what is it

moved from After Hours, please read Dublin City charter before posting

NegativeCreep

Pick it up at the not-sharp end?

January

Ring DCC.

hfallada

Well I seen someone washing their syringe in a sink of a shopping center in the city center.

OP wont call anyone as O O'Connell street is cleaned several times a day so it probably gone by now. I have seen lane ways with dozens of syringes by Houston station

Atlantic Dawn

They need a Garda on each entrance to the boardwalk to keep these guys off it, anyone with glazed eyes not admitted.

RossFixxxed

DCC and the gardai don't care. Buying bleach and gloves. There are kids in sandles walking about.

There's blood on it. There's a few on the street.

dfx-

"syringe filled dump"

Title change perhaps?

StupidLikeAFox

Not sure OP, but we are winning fighting the war on drugs. Any day now this will be a thing of the past, any day now....