The State of O'Connell St

flutered

breadmonster wrote: »

Its not actually that bad if theyd just get all the junkies off it. Need some sort of bylaw enforced to ban junkies from the city center.

hardly since they put a methadone distrubition center there, some planning went into that i kid you not.

strandroad

I'm around OCS quite a bit during weekends, in fact some of my favourite spots are there or nearby. I do find the atmosphere not great though, and it's not only about the junkies.

Real life example: on Saturday afternoon I was walking from Cineworld to OCS bridge, maybe 20 minutes total. In this short period of time I witnessed:
- a group of teenagers drinking (one pissing against the wall), shouting after a group of female tourists whom they've just harassed for fags & light.
- a teenager trying to cross the road 15 metres from a crossing, in front of the moving traffic, a car beeped at her and she roared "f*ck off" and a few more expletives then crossed anyway.
- a taxi van full of lads, one of them rolled down the window and shouted at me if I want to join them for their party as they need quote a hole unquote. I am absolutely inconspicuous looking, I suppose my only crime was that at that moment I was the only woman on this stretch of the quays.They passed me and further up the road I saw them shouting at someone else.
- finally on OCS bridge there was a woman, her leggings showing the crack of her bum to anyone (un)interested, roaring at her child to keep up and literally dragging him behind her.

None of them looked remotely deprived, the gang of teenagers were all wearing decent sports clothes, the jaywalking teenager and the woman were rough looking but had plenty of shopping bags/jewellery and the teenager had a good phone. None of this is criminal but kind of makes you think twice about coming back to spend any time there.

Einhard

Serious suggestion here- why don't people that are so p*ssed off about O'Connell Street do something about it? I mean, I'm angry reading this thread, and I'm not even from Dublin! How come people can organise and attend Boards drinks, and yet not organise to higlight this issue? How about attending a council meeting en masse? Or even staging a protest? Nobody is going to do anything based on a few posts in boards, but if people made some noise, then there might be a chance that something would be done.

scudzilla

Einhard wrote: »

Serious suggestion here- why don't people that are so p*ssed off about O'Connell Street do something about it? I mean, I'm angry reading this thread, and I'm not even from Dublin! How come people can organise and attend Boards drinks, and yet not organise to higlight this issue? How about attending a council meeting en masse? Or even staging a protest? Nobody is going to do anything based on a few posts in boards, but if people made some noise, then there might be a chance that something would be done.

Because that's what a lot of posters on boards are like, they'll moan and whine about it on here till they're blue in the face, but if it comes down to actually doing something about it in the real world, not a chance

Faith+1

scudzilla wrote: »

Because that's what a lot of posters on boards are like, they'll moan and whine about it on here till they're blue in the face, but if it comes down to actually doing something about it in the real world, not a chance

No, this is the attitude of the entire Irish populus. Ah sure it'll be grand like :mad:

Beefy78

It's not an Irish thing. It's human nature.

spank_inferno

- Its up to the council to lay down proper by-laws for combating anti-social behaviour.

- Its up to the police to come out of hiding and enforce said laws.

- Its the peoples jobs to be the best citizens they can be.

if people moan on these forums its because they are those in point 3, the first two points are the problem.

I think the best and only solution is to continue as I have for the last few years doing all my business on the south side of town (I'm from the NS), and leave the junkies and other ne'er do wells with all their supporters in this thread to it on OCS.

A lost cause.

Ole Rodrigo

The elephant (s) in the room with this disccusion :

- generally a benign attitude to being out of your face in Irish culture ( a previous poster refered to the guards joking about such, when they should have taken a firmer approach ). Maybe nobody wants to take too strong a stance on this is because of how acceptable it is across all sections of our society.

- The tacit acceptance of prejudice against the working classes. It is the last acceptable form of prejudice, and would make for an interesting disccusion outside the thread/forum- the demonisation of the poor by both middle class liberals and conservatives.

ror_74

ror_74 wrote: »

The elephant (s) in the room with this disccusion :

- generally a benign attitude to being out of your face in Irish culture ( a previous poster refered to the guards joking about such, when they should have taken a firmer approach ). Maybe nobody wants to take too strong a stance on this is because of how acceptable it is across all sections of our society.

- The tacit acceptance of prejudice against the working classes. It is the last acceptable form of prejudice, and would make for an interesting disccusion outside the thread/forum- the demonisation of the poor by both middle class liberals and conservatives.

The working classes would detest the people we are talking about in this thread as much as anyone. Let's face it, none of the people we are talking about are in danger of being referred to as 'working' anything

Well, perhaps 'working the system'...

Einhard

spank_inferno wrote: »

- Its up to the council to lay down proper by-laws for combating anti-social behaviour.

- Its up to the police to come out of hiding and enforce said laws.

- Its the peoples jobs to be the best citizens they can be.

if people moan on these forums its because they are those in point 3, the first two points are the problem.

But surely when the first two don't do their jobs, it's the job of the people to remind them of it. Otherwise nothing changes, and all of this is merely so much hot air. If you're not prepared to take some form of action, then it would appear that you don;t really think it's that much of an issue.

ohiknow

I think there has been a definite shift in the atmosphere in town. I saw a girl get mugged on O'Connell street last night at around 10pm. She put up a fight but the mugger got away. I rang the gards but the girl had moved on and there was nothing they could do. I don't think there are many parts of the city centre feels safe. Especially for a woman on her own. It's not limited to o'connell street. Again it seems to be tolerated. I don't know what the answer is but I know I won't be rushing back in for a day out.

Faith+1

ohiknow wrote: »

I think there has been a definite shift in the atmosphere in town. I saw a girl get mugged on O'Connell street last night at around 10pm. She put up a fight but the mugger got away. I rang the gards but the girl had moved on and there was nothing they could do. I don't think there are many parts of the city centre feels safe. Especially for a woman on her own. It's not limited to o'connell street. Again it seems to be tolerated. I don't know what the answer is but I know I won't be rushing back in for a day out.

You and me both. The street is a kip that should be nuked from orbit.

Laneyh

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

I think the best and only solution is to continue as I have for the last few years doing all my business on the south side of town (I'm from the NS), and leave the junkies and other ne'er do wells with all their supporters in this thread to it on OCS.

A lost cause.

Has anyone told the junkies about this North / South divide? 'cos I see them around the South city too.
I've also seen an increase in beggars & junkies in a lot of suburban villages.

If everyone just abandons the area because of problems we'll eventually end up shopping online and having parts of the city centre as no-go areas.

Maybe we should just brick up the city centre and turn it into a survival experience theme park altogether.

SantryRed

Laneyh wrote: »

Has anyone told the junkies about this North / South divide? 'cos I see them around the South city too.
I've also seen an increase in beggars & junkies in a lot of suburban villages.

If everyone just abandons the area because of problems we'll eventually end up shopping online and having parts of the city centre as no-go areas.

Maybe we should just brick up the city centre and turn it into a survival experience theme park altogether.

I honestly think we'd be best off demolishing the whole of O'Connell Street and the surrounding areas and starting again. Hopefully while all the vermin that roam the streets are there too.

Gaspode

You'd advocate mass murder as a means of dealing with addicts and beggars? Nice.

How would you deal with the true scumbags then, the ones who import and distribute the drugs to the junkies then? A lot of them apparently live in nice leafy suburbs or country mansions - flatten the whole country?

The Hill Billy

SantryRed wrote: »

I honestly think we'd be best off demolishing the whole of O'Connell Street and the surrounding areas and starting again. Hopefully while all the vermin that roam the streets are there too.

This sort of crap is just inflammatory & adds nothing to the thread. Any further posts like this will result in a ban.

Keep it on-topic & keep it civil or this thread will be closed.

tHB

bumper234

O'Connell street is the way it is because of all of us. In the 70s it and the surrounding area was buzzing with shoppers It was the main thoroughfare hell i remember you used to be able to PARK in the middle section of O'Connell street. Then in the 90s the shopping centers started opening. I started going to Blanchardstown shopping center because it was closer to home. Others used Liffey valley, The Square and others. Surrounding counties started building centers so people from say Meath who would have normally gone into the city center to shop now went to Navan or onto Blanchardstown.

Now O'Connell street only has fast food joints, amusement arcades, Spars. This is because they are the only ones that can afford the rent knowing they will get footfall through the doors. What's the solution? The government BUYS all the properties (not clerys, the Gresham or the Odeon cinema) under a compulsive purchase order. They spend millions doing this and renovating all of the buildings and then lease out to higher end shops only. this will have a knock on effect on surrounding streets and in maybe 20 years O'Connell street would be nice again.

Also the guards need to be more proactive i can walk down O'Connell street or surrounding area any lunchtime and see junkies half asleep and off their tits, I see drunks with open bottles/cans sitting on the statues while tourists are TAKING PICTURES! I know if we move them along they will just go somewhere lse but seriously if we are trying to sell this as a viable tourist destination then the last thing we ant is for people to go home and show pictures like these





<mod snip>

sdanseo

bumper234 wrote: »

O'Connell street is the way it is because of all of us. In the 70s it and the surrounding area was buzzing with shoppers It was the main thoroughfare hell i remember you used to be able to PARK in the middle section of O'Connell street. Then in the 90s the shopping centers started opening. I started going to Blanchardstown shopping center because it was closer to home. Others used Liffey valley, The Square and others. Surrounding counties started building centers so people from say Meath who would have normally gone into the city center to shop now went to Navan or onto Blanchardstown.

Now O'Connell street only has fast food joints, amusement arcades, Spars. This is because they are the only ones that can afford the rent knowing they will get footfall through the doors. What's the solution? The government BUYS all the properties (not clerys, the Gresham or the Odeon cinema) under a compulsive purchase order. They spend millions doing this and renovating all of the buildings and then lease out to higher end shops only. this will have a knock on effect on surrounding streets and in maybe 20 years O'Connell street would be nice again.

Also the guards need to be more proactive i can walk down O'Connell street or surrounding area any lunchtime and see junkies half asleep and off their tits, I see drunks with open bottles/cans sitting on the statues while tourists are TAKING PICTURES! I know if we move them along they will just go somewhere lse but seriously if we are trying to sell this as a viable tourist destination then the last thing we ant is for people to go home and show pictures like these

100% agreed. The amount of retail space on O'Connell Street would be taken up in a flash by proper shops rather than the assortment of rubbish that's there now if only the street was correctly cared for. I'd be a little concerned however that there would be a surplus for current requirements given that the length of Henry Street and Grafton Street, both within a 10-minute walk, are lined with stores and that maybe there is a saturation point approaching for retail space.

The above said, Grafton Street is where I was working all last week covering in one of our branches, and is was absolutely thronged. The sun helped in that regard, and Henry Street was the same. If this is a recession, neither street showed it.

Outwardly though, O'Connell Street will never drag in serious tenant unless several things happen:

1. Get the new Luas built on it immediately. The sooner the better.

(As an aside here, I can't express how stupid a decison it was to split the line, if there's any street in the bloody city that has more space it's O'Connell Street. I don't believe the official line of only having one lane each way blah blah, it's horse****. Island stop right outside the GPO would have been amazing.)

2. Police the area and deal with the druggies. This one's twofold - first, you stop giving drug addicts €10,000 a year plus free drugs, free travel, free medical cards and free rent. Make them work for it or give them food and board and nothing else. They'll soon find employment if there is literally no money, and if they start stealing things build a massive prison in Leitrim (no-one likes Leitrim) with all the money we've saved by not paying for their heroin and leave them there to perpetually rot. Secondly, you then arrest every single person who commits any sort of drug-related offence, charge them, have a special district court set aside to jail them (if it's not a felony a District Judge can slap down up to a year without any need for a Jury). Boom.

3. Solve the litter and smell issues. Clean the street, plant more flowers, pots, trees. Remove all traffic that isn't buses or taxis, without exception bar deliveries.

4. Get all the main bus stops back on the street. Damn, you don't create a retail buzz by having bus termini on side streets. Have the buses drop the passengers at the door of the shops and then turn off to terminate. By removing all cars, this becomes possible without traffic bedlam.

5. Full-time Garda presence on the street. I haven't seen a Garda at the GPO in months, before a few years ago it wasn't possible to pass without seeing one, and more at the little substation down the road.

Mr Simpson

The main thing I'd disagree with sdeire is point number 4. For me, the worst thing about O'Connell Street is the buses. They're loud, dirty, and the clutter of bus stops make the street worse

sticksman

Mr Simpson wrote: »

The main thing I'd disagree with sdeire is point number 4. For me, the worst thing about O'Connell Street is the buses. They're loud, dirty, and the clutter of bus stops make the street worse

Agree with this; I think that the current amount of bus stops attracts pickpockets and beggars.

mattjack

bumper234 wrote: »

O'Connell street is the way it is because of all of us. In the 70s it and the surrounding area was buzzing with shoppers It was the main thoroughfare hell i remember you used to be able to PARK in the middle section of O'Connell street. Then in the 90s the shopping centers started opening. I started going to Blanchardstown shopping center because it was closer to home. Others used Liffey valley, The Square and others. Surrounding counties started building centers so people from say Meath who would have normally gone into the city center to shop now went to Navan or onto Blanchardstown.

Now O'Connell street only has fast food joints, amusement arcades, Spars. This is because they are the only ones that can afford the rent knowing they will get footfall through the doors. What's the solution? The government BUYS all the properties (not clerys, the Gresham or the Odeon cinema) under a compulsive purchase order. They spend millions doing this and renovating all of the buildings and then lease out to higher end shops only. this will have a knock on effect on surrounding streets and in maybe 20 years O'Connell street would be nice again.

Also the guards need to be more proactive i can walk down O'Connell street or surrounding area any lunchtime and see junkies half asleep and off their tits, I see drunks with open bottles/cans sitting on the statues while tourists are TAKING PICTURES! I know if we move them along they will just go somewhere lse but seriously if we are trying to sell this as a viable tourist destination then the last thing we ant is for people to go home and show pictures like these





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You should ashamed of yourself sticking up that third picture particularly as he's from Dublin and it posted in a Dublin thread , that's somebody's son , brother , father.

God knows what hand in life he was dealt to end up in the situation he's in .....mental ill health, addiction , dysfunctional background .

Its entirely possible he may be related or known to posters in here.

EyeSight

mattjack wrote: »

You should ashamed of yourself sticking up that third picture particularly as he's from Dublin and it posted in a Dublin thread , that's somebody's son , brother , father.

God knows what hand in life he was dealt to end up in the situation he's in .....mental ill health, addiction , dysfunctional background .

Its entirely possible he may be related or known to posters in here.

way to overreact :rolleyes:
you should be the one who is ashamed. You see a picture of a man and start assuming he is mentally ill or an addict...

Lelantos

EyeSight wrote: »

way to overreact :rolleyes:
you should be the one who is ashamed. You see a picture of a man and start assuming he is mentally ill or an addict...

Its a still shot from Fair City

mattjack

EyeSight wrote: »

way to overreact :rolleyes:
you should be the one who is ashamed. You see a picture of a man and start assuming he is mentally ill or an addict...

In the third paragraph from bumper234 he suggests as he walks down OCS he can see addicts off their tits and drunks with open cans/bottles and give us three pictures relating them to his post maybe just for poetic licence or effect.

What say you now "rolling eyes man ?"

EyeSight

mattjack wrote: »

In the third paragraph from bumper234 he suggests as he walks down OCS he can see addicts off their tits and drunks with open cans/bottles and give us three pictures relating them to his post maybe just for poetic licence or effect.

What say you now "rolling eyes man ?"

:rolleyes:
i say you're still overreacting and being too high and mighty

I don't care how accepting we should be in society, when we see certain people ruining what should be the best street in Dublin/Ireland every day of the year, we are allowed to moan about it and feel angry at those who do it

Through tax, I am literally paying for these idiots to travel in and do this

The Hill Billy

If you have a problem with a post - report it.

Stay on-topic.

tHB

petecork

Lelantos wrote: »

Its a still shot from Fair City

EyeSight wrote: »

way to overreact :rolleyes:
you should be the one who is ashamed. You see a picture of a man and start assuming he is mentally ill or an addict...

thats the guy talking in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygHL4U8YSXg

skimpydoo

Lelantos wrote: »

Its a still shot from Fair City

Jaysus Zummo's lost some fooking weight

bobin fudge

Would most of the retail space available be too small for major retailers to lease/rent? Also there are plenty more commercial areas for retailers of that size to take before O'Connell street

Im not sure what can be done, perhaps if the policy on drugs was re-evaluated with more change in direction away from methadone, "sleepers" takeaways and scripts etc etc the rest of the problems regarding O'Connell street can be tackled a little more easily?