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The State of O'Connell St

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    #692
    mattjack
    Registered Users Posts: 5,389 ✭✭✭mattjack


    bobin fudge wrote: »
    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?

    At the moment we look(the state) just to stabilise on methadone without any real approach to getting a detox done.

    Sleepers .. I take it you're talking about "Z" class , maybe have a look at why so many are being prescribed by GP's to patients.I think you can get six month prescription.


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    #693
    bobin fudge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 656 ✭✭✭bobin fudge


    indeed and some/most sell them on the street to get their bags of gear and the cycle repeats, thanks to the taxpayer


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    #694
    mattjack
    Registered Users Posts: 5,389 ✭✭✭mattjack


    bobin fudge wrote: »
    indeed and some/most sell them on the street to get their bags of gear and the cycle repeats, thanks to the taxpayer

    what do you mean cycle repeats ?


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    #695
    bobin fudge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 656 ✭✭✭bobin fudge


    just another way of making it easier for the person on drugs.

    ie has no money, can turn up to the clinic, get his phi and sleepers and then sell the tablets and buy more gear. therefore seeing the same people day in day out off their faces on O'Connell street

    This isn't the sole reason or anything like it, just another factor imo


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    #696
    mattjack
    Registered Users Posts: 5,389 ✭✭✭mattjack


    bobin fudge wrote: »
    just another way of making it easier for the person on drugs.

    ie has no money, can turn up to the clinic, get his phi and sleepers and then sell the tablets and buy more gear. therefore seeing the same people day in day out off their faces on O'Connell street

    This isn't the sole reason or anything like it, just another factor imo

    Why get onto clinic , build up that trust to get a takeaway , then sell your takeaway to smoke or inject.
    Isn't the idea behind methadone maintenance to stabilise an addict and reduce blood borne disease ?


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    #697
    bobin fudge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 656 ✭✭✭bobin fudge


    I don't know what the idea is to be honest regarding methadone

    As for takeaways, its easy enough to give "bogey" urines or take gear and not go to the clinic for the 5 days and provide a clean one etc

    going off the topic a little -in short I have no idea at all


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    #698
    mattjack
    Registered Users Posts: 5,389 ✭✭✭mattjack


    bobin fudge wrote: »
    I don't know what the idea is to be honest regarding methadone

    As for takeaways, its easy enough to give "bogey" urines or take gear and not go to the clinic for the 5 days and provide a clean one etc

    going off the topic a little -in short I have no idea at all

    Thanks you,re honest.


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    #699
    bobin fudge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 656 ✭✭✭bobin fudge


    honest about what?


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    #700
    Neeson
    Registered Users Posts: 3,909 ✭✭✭Neeson


    bobin fudge wrote: »
    honest about what?


    The methadone situation.


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    #701
    smellmepower
    Closed Accounts Posts: 829 ✭✭✭smellmepower


    mattjack wrote: »
    Why get onto clinic , build up that trust to get a takeaway , then sell your takeaway to smoke or inject.
    Isn't the idea behind methadone maintenance to stabilise an addict and reduce blood borne disease ?

    The harm and crime reduction angle and to stabilise addicts before going into a detox facility was the idea originally.

    But the required number of detox units never materialised,so addicts are stuck in limbo on methadone for far longer then it was intended to be used for.

    So naturally they get fed up of living like zombies,having to provide urines,having the threat of their methadone dosage being lowered as a punitive punishment etc,and fall back into using illegal or prescription based opiates,which are readily available.

    The drug treatment services that are offered now only pay lip service to the addiction problems in the city.They always have done,going back to the original heroin epidemic here,and the subsequent outbreaks in the 90's etc.

    To deal with the problem you need proper detox,proper mental health and homeless services,as well as an adequately resourced probation service and Gardai.

    But it's easier and more importantly cheaper in the short term,to just string people along on methadone in mainly poor communities,and let the next govt sort it out.


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    #702
    dar926
    Registered Users Posts: 156 ✭✭dar926


    I got off the train at Connoly the other day and walked straight up to caple street... from the point that I got to Talbot street and walked across to Henry Street I was asked "are u looking"(for Drugs) three times.. that is pretty shocking by any standards


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    #703
    Neeson
    Registered Users Posts: 3,909 ✭✭✭Neeson


    dar926 wrote: »
    I got off the train at Connoly the other day and walked straight up to caple street... from the point that I got to Talbot street and walked across to Henry Street I was asked "are u looking"(for Drugs) three times.. that is pretty shocking by any standards


    Were you wearing a tracksuit?


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    #704
    dar926
    Registered Users Posts: 156 ✭✭dar926


    Neeson wrote: »
    Were you wearing a tracksuit?

    No I don't own a tracksuit.. But even if I had of been I wouldn't make a social distinction based on dress.. Fact is I was offered drugs three times in ten minutes in or around Ireland's Capital Street... This is unacceptable in any circumstances..


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    #705
    Neeson
    Registered Users Posts: 3,909 ✭✭✭Neeson


    dar926 wrote: »
    No I don't own a tracksuit.. But even if I had of been I wouldn't make a social distinction based on dress.. Fact is I was offered drugs three times in ten minutes in or around Ireland's Capital Street... This is unacceptable in any circumstances..


    This is true. But he was probably just trying to help you if he thought you were the sort. They mean no harm.


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    #706
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,309 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    Paparazzo wrote: »
    Those doughnuts at the kiosk are only €3 for 6, and are the nicest ones I've ever had.
    It's the best only thing about O'Connell Street.
    Fixed that up there for ya!


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    #707
    Ash.J.Williams
    Registered Users Posts: 21,045 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    dar926 wrote: »
    No I don't own a tracksuit.. But even if I had of been I wouldn't make a social distinction based on dress.. Fact is I was offered drugs three times in ten minutes in or around Ireland's Capital Street... This is unacceptable in any circumstances..

    Doesn't make us any worse than any other capital city


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    #708
    bumper234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,250 ✭✭✭✭bumper234


    Ash.J.Williams wrote: »
    Doesn't make us any worse than any other capital city

    Oh i think it does. Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, London, Prague, Tallin, Washington, Beijing, Stockholm. Off the top of my head there are 10 capital cities i have been in for more than 3 days running this year alone. Do you know the one thing they ALL have in common? Not once (never mind in the tourist areas) has anyone approached me offering drugs.


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    #709
    the purple tin
    Registered Users Posts: 10,943 ✭✭✭✭the purple tin


    It's not just the junkies and methadone clinics you'd have to sort out it's the alcoholics too. One of them was ready to kill me one afternoon over a case of mistaken identity, lucky for me his friends convinced him he had the wrong guy. There used to be a load of them always in around the square in temple bar but the boardwalk seemed to mostly draw them across the river.


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    #710
    dd972
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭dd972


    What's the difference between Marlborough St and Mogadishu, Somalia?


    One's a filthy, dangerous, seedy, second rate, third world cesspit


    .......the other is the capital of Somalia.


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    #711
    Lelantos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,612 ✭✭✭Lelantos


    bumper234 wrote: »
    Oh i think it does. Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, London, Prague, Tallin, Washington, Beijing, Stockholm. Off the top of my head there are 10 capital cities i have been in for more than 3 days running this year alone. Do you know the one thing they ALL have in common? Not once (never mind in the tourist areas) has anyone approached me offering drugs.

    I have spent a lot of time in Prague. Drugs & prostitution are rife in the city centre. Wenceslas square, (their O'Connell st) is openly rife with both.


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    #712
    bumper234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,250 ✭✭✭✭bumper234


    Lelantos wrote: »
    I have spent a lot of time in Prague. Drugs & prostitution are rife in the city centre. Wenceslas square, (their O'Connell st) is openly rife with both.

    I can only speak for my own experiences and they are that i have never been openly offered drugs especially in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight.


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    #713
    Lelantos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,612 ✭✭✭Lelantos


    bumper234 wrote: »
    I can only speak for my own experiences and they are that i have never been openly offered drugs especially in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight.

    I can't really speak for the other cities youve mentioned, but I lived & worked in Prague & O'Connell st doesn't even come close.


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    #714
    EyeSight
    Registered Users Posts: 1,180 ✭✭✭EyeSight


    Ash.J.Williams wrote: »
    Doesn't make us any worse than any other capital city
    other cities are bad so who cares if Dublin is too?:confused: what a terrible attitude.

    I disagree that we aren't any worse though. As i've said before, it's the cities main street and area and it's ridden with open crime and no policing. That is rare.


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    #715
    strandroad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭strandroad


    bumper234 wrote: »
    I can only speak for my own experiences and they are that i have never been openly offered drugs especially in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight.

    Don't go to Lisbon or Barcelona...


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    #716
    bumper234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,250 ✭✭✭✭bumper234


    mhge wrote: »
    Don't go to Lisbon or Barcelona...

    I have been to both cities several times. Never had a junkie walk up to me offering prescription drugs, never been mugged or intimidated into giving bums, drunks or junkies money and have never. Sure i have seen drunks and addicts but i still think O'Connell street is one of the worse. For me it's on par with Times Square circa 1990 - 2000


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    #717
    strandroad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭strandroad


    bumper234 wrote: »
    I have been to both cities several times. Never had a junkie walk up to me offering prescription drugs, never been mugged or intimidated into giving bums, drunks or junkies money and have never. Sure i have seen drunks and addicts but i still think O'Connell street is one of the worse. For me it's on par with Times Square circa 1990 - 2000

    We've never been offered drugs in Dublin despite being in the north city centre/Temple Bar quite a lot but in Lisbon (especially) and Barcelona we've been approached so frequently that it became a running joke. I guess they have types too; they never offered anything to me (a woman) but my OH was asked a lot.


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    #718
    bumper234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,250 ✭✭✭✭bumper234


    mhge wrote: »
    We've never been offered drugs in Dublin despite being in the north city centre/Temple Bar quite a lot but in Lisbon (especially) and Barcelona we've been approached so frequently that it became a running joke. I guess they have types too; they never offered anything to me (a woman) but my OH was asked a lot.

    Yeah i suppose it is the person too. Funny thing is years ago i worked in temple bar as a doorman and all the junkies knew me to see so they would never approach me. I don't do it anymore and now the new generation are everywhere and some even ask me if i wanna buy lol.


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    #719
    Ole Rodrigo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,013 ✭✭✭Ole Rodrigo


    dd972 wrote: »
    What's the difference between Marlborough St and Mogadishu, Somalia?


    One's a filthy, dangerous, seedy, second rate, third world cesspit


    .......the other is the capital of Somalia.

    Thats exactly what this thread needs - rabble rousing tabloid comments that offer nothing constructive in the matter. :rolleyes: We can be grateful we don't have a gun culture. And summary beheadings in public places..we've yet to experience that. Both are part of the Mogadishu experience.

    Anyone who says we aren't as bad as other European cities has not spent enough time in them. And if they arent, the will likely have dealt with these problems before. Discounting the suburbs, Dublin is small city for a capital so problems like this are much more visible.

    Somebody out there doing a Post Grad in social services would do well to tackle this problem. Maybe look at other cities in Europe to see how they dealt with it, and learn from them. Christiania in Copenhagen I don't think worked out too well in the end. Why ? Needle Park in Zurich is another example. Something could be learned Im sure. Also, if we look at how asylum seekers are being handled currently - old public buildings setup with dormitories, canteens, various welfare restrictions imposed. Something similar to this ? Its a real shame that families from desperate countries get worse treatment than our city centre junkie though.


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    #720
    January
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,862 ✭✭✭✭January


    Can we keep on topic please, again, for the VERY LAST TIME.


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    #721
    skimpydoo
    Registered Users Posts: 4,927 ✭✭✭skimpydoo


    I saw today around 2pm near the Doughnut Kiosk by the cybercafe a junkie on the ground strung out going through a seizure. 2 people where looking after him. Why should tourists etc walking up or down O'Connell St see sights like this.


This discussion has been closed.
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