The trouble with the Custom House

mruser2014

The Custom House is currently overrun with homeless and drug users. It is one of Dublin iconic buildings yet it is a sorry sight these days.
Walked passed last week and someone was shooting up on the steps. Today I saw syringes and all sorts on the footpath and in the front of the building.
Homeless people and drug users are not using it as a drug den. Plain to see to everyone walking passed.
Surely something can be done here? Not a Garda in sight.
It amazes me how they are getting away with this.
What do others thing?

DLMA23

The National Concert Hall is experiencing the same issue

AGS have been called on numerous occassions & choose to ignore calls, leaving management to employ S/O's to be on-site over-night to deal with it

adocholiday

It's shocking really but a lot of Dublin's iconic places and landmarks are experiencing the same issue. I often wonder what tourists think of our 'fair city'.

Think about a tourist getting off the train at Heuston Station. There are generally a few of them hanging around begging for money and intimidating people buying LUAS tickets. The tourist gets on the 145 to go into town then and sees some of them passed out in Croppies Acre Memorial Park. Further down there'll be a few of them on the steps of the Four Courts and dotted about various places on the way down the quays until you get to the lawless area of Batchelor's Walk. Said tourist then gets off and walks down O'Connell St. There are loads of them including outside of the GPO and sitting around the statue of Daniel O'Connell. Take a walk across O'Connell Bridge then and make your way up Westmoreland Street towards Trinity. Walk down Dame Street and there'll be a few of them for sure shouting and roaring at one another while waving cans of beer around the Central Bank area. Take a walk through Temple Bar, yep lots more of them there... Go out through the Arch (try not to fall over any of them) and take the 145 back down to Heuston. You're bound to see a few more of them around Merchant's Quay area etc. and then back into Heuston Station for your train.

Hope you enjoyed your short trip to Dublin. I live in Dublin and I genuinely love the city. It is for the most part a relaxed, safe place with lots of very positive aspects but the seemingly increasing number of homeless and drug addicts causing anti-social behaviour around the some of the most iconic and attractive parts of Dublin really needs to be addressed.

schemingbohemia

mruser2014 wrote: »

The Custom House is currently overrun with homeless and drug users. It is one of Dublin iconic buildings yet it is a sorry sight these days.
Walked passed last week and someone was shooting up on the steps. Today I saw syringes and all sorts on the footpath and in the front of the building.
Homeless people and drug users are not using it as a drug den. Plain to see to everyone walking passed.
Surely something can be done here? Not a Garda in sight.
It amazes me how they are getting away with this.
What do others thing?

I only noticed this for the first time recently, was shocked at how many there were there. It's shocking to be honest, don't know why blue lights aren't put in to at least stop them injecting (though they're probably all on methadone anyway).

Something should be done, it's very grim.

mruser2014

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I only noticed this for the first time recently, was shocked at how many there were there. It's shocking to be honest, don't know why blue lights aren't put in to at least stop them injecting (though they're probably all on methadone anyway).

Something should be done, it's very grim.

Ya probably all on methadone but I clearly saw needles there today and a guy shooting up last week.
They now have carboard up too. Its not a full drug den for everyone to see.
But one thing we can't see if a member of the Gardai.
I don't know how they are getting away with it.

Lux23

I think it was always a spot for drunks, but yea there does seem to be a shooting up gallery there.

We really need safe, supervised injecting rooms in Dublin.

Ledge

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I only noticed this for the first time recently, was shocked at how many there were there. It's shocking to be honest, don't know why blue lights aren't put in to at least stop them injecting (though they're probably all on methadone anyway).

Something should be done, it's very grim.

Sorry for my lingo here but the blue lights ain't worth a s***e.

I've seen them in the jacks in Heuston where they were installed in the stalls for a short time.

Problem is those injecting are always one step ahead it seems. Ahead of going in & not being able find vein, they were tightening up outside to expose the vein and marking the spot with a black ("permanent") marker which defeated the purpose of the blue lights.

They were an initial deterrent alright & an admirable attempt at doing something.

Saves a cleaner or security guard going in & finding a junkie zonked out on the throne but they've long since been removed & replaced back with the ordinary lights so it's a matter of observation in that particular station.

As for the Trainspotting Toilets of Busaras I would rather poo my pants than use them cesspits; that said it's been the 00s since I've been there so perhaps they've improved in cleanliness & indeed certain users have been encouraged not to engage in certain activities.

Of course the issue is a lot of drug-users of the type (tripe?) being discussed here are, as others have said probably using (& selling) methadone and are poly-drug users.

We haven't had a crack cocaine epidemic yet but it's coming down the tracks and those "detoxing" on meth (anecodatal evidence suggests a market in resale of same either pure or diluted with who knows what but then the end-user probably doesn't care or care to think what and therein lies the issue) will be like stoners in comparison when crack gets a hold of a user.

ProudDUB

The problems in the city centre would be largely solved if the methadone clinics and drug treatment centres, were moved OUT of the city centre. But no one in the HSE, the Dept of Health or the city council seem to have to political will or the balls to do so.

terryhobdell

ProudDUB wrote: »

The problems in the city centre would be largely solved if the methadone clinics and drug treatment centres, were moved OUT of the city centre. But no one in the HSE, the Dept of Health or the city council seem to have to political will or balls to do so.

Absolutely The Clinics should be where the addicts live the present policy has made those in the worst situation live on the City streets I guarantee there is not one TD resident in Dublin 1 or 2.The Custom house has the offices of The Department of the environment ( UNBELIEVABLE) . reference the building thus on their website" A masterpiece of European neo-classicism" The Minister Alan Kelly says in his contribution to the departments website says My Department's activities touch the lives of every citizen of the state. They range from the quality of the environment in which we live. Clearly the Minister has not walked around his building to see the environment! Both The Ministers in this Department are from rural areas so maybe they think Junkies are part of Dublin life Maybe an email to each of them asking how they are going to improve the environment on their Ministerial doorsteps might help his Kelly's email is alan.kelly@oireachtas.ie he has a Junior called paudie Coffey paudie.coffey@oir.ie

athtrasna

terryhobdell wrote: »

I guarantee there is not one TD resident in Dublin 1 or 2.

There are 9 Dail seats covering the areas, Dublin Central and Dublin South East. Are you sure none of the 9 TDs live in D1/2

ProudDUB

I'm sure that a fair few of them live in D1/2, but how many of them are from FF & FG? They are the parties that are (or were) in actual political power & have/had the political power and ability to decide where these treatment centres and clinics go? Aren't the city centre TD's mostly independents, Sinn Fein, Labour, Democratic Left, Workers Party etc etc? Traditionally, they have had eff all political power & the ability to effect real change. Once in a while, a Tony Gregory will come along & will go to bat for the people who live and work in the city centre, but he is the exception, rather than the rule imo.

To be honest, no one wants these facilities or their clientele & all the baggage that they bring, on their own door steps. So if you are a TD from Crumlin, Castleknock or Clontibret, you have eff all desire to have one of these facilities anywhere near your constituency, pissing off the people who vote for you. So they are perfectly happy to see them dumped them in the heart of the city centre and let the Shinners and the tourists deal with them. They really couldn't be arsed.

Until the city centre & what goes on in it, is controlled & organized by entities and people that have an actual vested interest in what goes on there & the ability & political power to get things done, it's never going to change. And that makes me very, very sad.

Kermit.de.frog

ProudDUB wrote: »

The problems in the city centre would be largely solved if the methadone clinics and drug treatment centres, were moved OUT of the city centre. But no one in the HSE, the Dept of Health or the city council seem to have to political will or the balls to do so.

This. It's pretty straight forward that if you put 20 clinics within a kilometer of each other in a city center (we must be the ONLY city in the world to actually intentionally drag addicts in to the center) what is going to happen.


It's not only the influx of addicts - it's associates and general scumbags that come with them too.

The damage being done to tourism and Dublin's image is becoming irrevocable.

It's embarrassing.

Do the people in charge not see this?

DLMA23

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Do the people in charge not see this?

Difficult to see when they're atop their ivory towers

boombang

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

It's not only the influx of addicts - it's associates and general scumbags that come with them too.

The damage being done to tourism and Dublin's image is becoming irrevocable.

It's embarrassing.

Do the people in charge not see this?

I agree Kermitt. Do the authorities have wait until Dublin gets slated in the Lonely Planet before they'll react?

Saw two unfortunates blasting lighter fluid into themselves outside Brown Thomas during the middle of the day. I struggle to think what the Guards can really do though with stuff that's sad and unsightly, but not really directly imposing a crime on other people. Others may not agree.

ProudDUB

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

This. It's pretty straight forward that if you put 20 clinics within a kilometer of each other in a city center (we must be the ONLY city in the world to actually intentionally drag addicts in to the center) what is going to happen.


It's not only the influx of addicts - it's associates and general scumbags that come with them too.

The damage being done to tourism and Dublin's image is becoming irrevocable.

It's embarrassing.

Do the people in charge not see this?

Of course they see it. They just have eff all motivation to do anything about it. The last & current Ministers for Health represent constituencies in west Dublin and north county Dublin. The people who vote for them don't live in the city centre. The people who vote for them don't do touristy things in the city centre. The people who vote for them don't have businesses in the city centre.

Some of the people who vote for them, may work in the city centre.They may tut tut about the addicts along with everyone else, but they won't vote for candidates based on what is going on in town. They'll vote on issues local to them, just like everyone else.

Until Dublin City gets it own Mayor who has real power and a real commitment to effect change (like Rudy Giuliani in New York ) or its own Minister with real clout and a budget to get things done, or its own ability to solve its own problems, its never going to change imo.

Kermit.de.frog

All I know is that in November we have one of the worlds biggest tech summits in Dublin when top executives from the biggest companies will be here at the RDS. Something so many other cities would give their right eye for.

What are all the delegates going to think when they make the mistake of venturing in to the city center?

That is just one example. When I have foreign friends over I actually tell them to avoid the city center mostly for their own safety but also because of the embarrassment at the state of the place.

It's hard to quantify just how damaging this has become to tourism and business.

I would with most other Dubliners who don't have their head in the sand like our lord mayor appeal for something to be done.

Kiltennel

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

All I know is that in November we have one of the worlds biggest tech summits in Dublin when top executives from the biggest companies will be here at the RDS. Something so many other cities would give their right eye for.

What are all the delegates going to think when they make the mistake of venturing in to the city center?

That is just one example. When I have foreign friends over I actually tell them to avoid the city center mostly for their own safety but also because of the embarrassment at the state of the place.

It's hard to quantify just how damaging this has become to tourism and business.

I would with most other Dubliners who don't have their head in the sand like our lord mayor appeal for something to be done.

Avoid the city centre for their safety? In my 21 years of living in Dublin I've never been the victim of anything in the city centre. The amount of heroin and benzo addicts around the place is definitely a pain in the ass but to say Dublin is an unsafe city is not true.

The amount of addicts using the Custom House seems to be a result of the push that happened earlier on in the year around Abbey Street / Talbot Street by the Garda. I'd imagine their view now is if they don't bother them too much they'll stay around the Custom House and not hang around the Abbey Street / Talbot Street / O'Connell Street area. Problem wont be fix until they re-examine their treatment policy. You can't beat addiction with jail cells, only detox and rehab programmes unfortunately.

John_Rambo

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

That is just one example. When I have foreign friends over I actually tell them to avoid the city center mostly for their own safety but also because of the embarrassment at the state of the place

Why would you do such a thing? The city is one of the safest in Europe! It's a cracking vibrant city. Fair enough, drug users are unsightly but mostly harmless. I was out on Friday night, the place was hopping, great atmosphere, tourists everywhere, hipsters buzzing around on their fixies ... The Drury st., South William st., Georges st., Exchequer st., Fade st., Coppinger row area is brilliant. Top class restaurants and bars.

Fair enough pointing them in the right direction or telling them to avoid certain areas at certain times, but telling them to avoid the city centre altogether? That's nuts. The places the likes of yourself might want to avoid at night are perfectly safe during the day.

strandroad

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

That is just one example. When I have foreign friends over I actually tell them to avoid the city center mostly for their own safety but also because of the embarrassment at the state of the place.

What a massive, massive overreaction.

Junkies are not even that visible to tourists who don't know their ways. What's much more visible is how many people wear tracksuits 24/7

kingtiger

we need zero tolerance like Bloomberg in New York, just passed a guy wigged out on Grafton street dancing to a busker and sucking on some sort of aerosol

Its bloody embarrassing seeing tourists looking at the likes of this eejit in on of the main thoroughfares in Dublin

thomur

Kiltennel wrote: »

Avoid the city centre for their safety? In my 21 years of living in Dublin I've never been the victim of anything in the city centre. The amount of heroin and benzo addicts around the place is definitely a pain in the ass but to say Dublin is an unsafe city is not true.

The amount of addicts using the Custom House seems to be a result of the push that happened earlier on in the year around Abbey Street / Talbot Street by the Garda. I'd imagine their view now is if they don't bother them too much they'll stay around the Custom House and not hang around the Abbey Street / Talbot Street / O'Connell Street area. Problem wont be fix until they re-examine their treatment policy. You can't beat addiction with jail cells, only detox and rehab programmes unfortunately.

Bang on. I've lived 1.5 miles from Dublin City centre for 45 years. Never been mugged etc. Walked along the Quays at all times of the day/night without any hassle. Like anywhere else keep your wits about you

Muahahaha

kingtiger wrote: »

we need zero tolerance like Bloomberg in New York, just passed a guy wigged out on Grafton street dancing to a busker and sucking on some sort of aerosol

Its bloody embarrassing seeing tourists looking at the likes of this eejit in on of the main thoroughfares in Dublin

Sometimes I think to myself that the type of tourist who tends to come to Ireland are quite well educated and cultured people who would be quite open minded and would never subscribe to the idea of a national stereotype. Then they arrive in Dublin and its almost a given certainty that at some stage they'll see some drunken eejit making a tit of himself. We really are fighting a losing battle when it comes to the drunken paddy stereotype and tourists, they might arrive with an open mind but I doubt they leave with one !

In fairness most of the drunkenness you see around Dublin is just people acting the maggot. But sometimes what most Irish people might deem to be 'horseplay' might come across as intimidating to tourists. Sometimes you see drunken lads across town and you might not be sure if they're having a laugh or a fight, the lines really can be that thin sometimes.

The junkie problem is really frustrating, its like our politicans are just pretending it doesnt exist so they dont have to open shooting galleries in their own constituences where many addicts are arriving from every day. Its a classic Irish sweep it under the carpet scenario infused with a good dollop of nimbyism on top.

I don't know what the solution is but what we're doing isnt working and its about time our politicians realised how they're letting the city centre degenerate at a pretty alarming speed. One part of me says whats needed is some sort of national addiction and rehab centre placed outside Dublin but on transport links to the rest of the country. And then deal with the problem there, with specialists and the support these people need to get clean. But maybe even doing that would be a form of sweeping it under the carpet too.

dfx-

Another unsafe city thread. I'm regularly around the NCH at night and don't see anyone other than NCH patrons.

MJohnston

dfx- wrote: »

Another unsafe city thread. I'm regularly around the NCH at night and don't see anyone other than NCH patrons.

While that might be true, I definitely think there's a problem around the quay facing side of Custom House currently. Walked past there last night and while I never feel unsafe in most parts of Dublin, I didn't want to hang around too long either. For an area that connects the Docklands to the main city centre it's weird to see. Reminds me of the really horrible parts of San Francisco in a minor way (long way to go before it's anywhere near as bad as that city).

DLMA23

dfx- wrote: »

Another unsafe city thread. I'm regularly around the NCH at night and don't see anyone other than NCH patrons.

Well I'm here 5 days a week, 9 hours a day, so I beg to differ

uvkaren

I grew up in Chicago, lived in Boston/NYC for 13 yrs, and moved here. Dublin is so much safer! Dublin has a much lower crime rate/ mugging & theft than any of those US cities. Despite the fact that guns are outlawed. I feel safe walking in the city center -but I'm also a social worker who specialize in addiction, teen runaways, & emergency inpatient psychiatric treatments in the US.

*I can tell you the programs I saw that worked for addiction of heavy drugs/alcohol, were the hardcore ones that shipped folks (serious about recovery) to treatment sites on islands, fringes of small towns, or remote locations in the mountains- some of the highest price private pay facilities for Hollywood types were places in remote locations. -forcing a removal from addictive social supports & limited recovery choices is the best approach to keep a serious recovery focused and out of old habits. But that said - most addicts will return to drug of choice or new addictions (I kept tabs on my teams cases at a Boston hospital & we saw 1 out of 8 addicts keep clean 1yr. after treatment) But so many variables arise in those numbers that compound individual cases.

That said - The Custom's house should be policed more - keep homeless/addicts off public buildings, but give them another option for shelter, NOT in city center.

When methadone clinics were close to city centers - they had the HIGHEST rate of failure and substance abuse. I saw way too many subcultures arise around connections made at city clinics.

Muahahaha

uvkaren wrote: »

When methadone clinics were close to city centers - they had the HIGHEST rate of failure and substance abuse. I saw way too many subcultures arise around connections made at city clinics.

That's interesting, it shows the folly of having them in a city centre in the first place. Whats likely needed is some sort of centralised addiction facility in a rural location so as to remove tempation from addicts when they're getting clean. What we seem to have at the moment is a number of charities set up who get public funds and also fundraise privately too. While their intentions are good I'm doubting that they have the expertise or resources to truly turns things around and no doubt many of them are repeating the work of others. For the addicts themselves if they get kicked off one program they then go join another and the cycle begins again.

schemingbohemia

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

All I know is that in November we have one of the worlds biggest tech summits in Dublin when top executives from the biggest companies will be here at the RDS. Something so many other cities would give their right eye for.

What are all the delegates going to think when they make the mistake of venturing in to the city center?

That is just one example. When I have foreign friends over I actually tell them to avoid the city center mostly for their own safety but also because of the embarrassment at the state of the place.

It's hard to quantify just how damaging this has become to tourism and business.

I would with most other Dubliners who don't have their head in the sand like our lord mayor appeal for something to be done.

I hope your friends ignore your advice as it's way way overboard.

All these posts about how dangerous Dublin is must be by people who have never travelled, or if they have, have managed to ignore the same issues in other cities.

MJohnston

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I hope your friends ignore your advice as it's way way overboard.

All these posts about how dangerous Dublin is must be by people who have never travelled, or if they have, have managed to ignore the same issues in other cities.

In fairness, peoples limits for what they consider 'safe' are all different - it's pretty much safe as anything if you're the average white male, but step outside that group and you're probably going to feel a little threatened by something or another. Having said all that, yeah, I feel a lot safer in Dublin than I did in most US cities, I think because there's usually always a fair amount of other people around that you're never completely isolated. Still, I wouldn't write off how others might be afraid of safety in the place.

schemingbohemia

MJohnston wrote: »

In fairness, peoples limits for what they consider 'safe' are all different - it's pretty much safe as anything if you're the average white male, but step outside that group and you're probably going to feel a little threatened by something or another. Having said all that, yeah, I feel a lot safer in Dublin than I did in most US cities, I think because there's usually always a fair amount of other people around that you're never completely isolated. Still, I wouldn't write off how others might be afraid of safety in the place.

Well, statistics help in that regard, and Dublin has a much lower level of reported crime than most other European cities. Whether we report crime less than other cities is a whole other question obviously.

Most junkies whilst noisy and smelly are not actually likely to do anything to you.

Totally Tropical

John_Rambo wrote: »

Why would you do such a thing? The city is one of the safest in Europe! It's a cracking vibrant city. Fair enough, drug users are unsightly but mostly harmless. I was out on Friday night, the place was hopping, great atmosphere, tourists everywhere, hipsters buzzing around on their fixies ... The Drury st., South William st., Georges st., Exchequer st., Fade st., Coppinger row area is brilliant. Top class restaurants and bars.

Fair enough pointing them in the right direction or telling them to avoid certain areas at certain times, but telling them to avoid the city centre altogether? That's nuts. The places the likes of yourself might want to avoid at night are perfectly safe during the day.

One of the safest in Europe im not so sure about that.Of course parts of Dublin are very nice but they are parts of the city centre that have serious problems with thugs and drug addicts involved in anti social behaviour and medium to low level criminality.Not to mention a gun crime problem that's showing no signs of improving.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/surge-in-handguns-causing-deaths-285631.html