Is Dublin really that bad ?

manonboard

Home after 2 years for a visit.

When walking with a friend in brick field park, a gang of youths tried to start something.
I grew up in the city so I know to keep walking, don't flinch, n start talking louder to my friend about something serious as it confuses them n ignores them at the same time.

I forgot this happens non rarely in dublin. It didn't happen once in the two years in helsinki. Im an immigrant there. I dont see anything like it there.
Dublin has had an ever increasing problem of youths with bad behaviour getting worse because consequences and monitoring have gotten less.

Strumms

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

DCC have a lot to answer for here. O'C Street is just perfect with the wide pavements for outdoor dining and that, and it could transform the place big time.

But I suppose the punters would be plagued with the unwell tapping their way up and down the street.

Worth a try though, Covid restrictions permitting of course. There are lots of ways to gentrify run down places. The only imagination in DCC is cycle lanes AFAIS. But many of the councillors represent the unwell and the so called disadvantaged and so on, so will only vote through things that help their deprived communities. That has to change. The city is for everyone especially those who pay for it.

10000%

Perhaps with the metro there will be less buses using it. Less transient footfall less people just going there to get away from there... and it can become more a place to go because it’s nice, safe, full of decent amenities.

hynesie08

mr_fegelien wrote: »

Dublin is one of the few capital cities (if not the only one) of a developed country where the city centre is ****e and the best looking parts are an hour away.

New York, London and L.A. may have their grim parts, but any tourist who wants to avoid junkies and grim parts just has to follow the tourist map and stay within the good sides.

No such thing for Dublin. O'Connell Street looks like a rundown kip. Dublins image can only be appreciated once you drive towards Donnybrook and the N11 or Merrion Square.

This is true, never once in new york have I been hassled for change by wannabe rappers in times square, homeless beggars in penn station or crack heads in port authority.....

Not have I been threatened by Jamaican yardies in Brixton, or spit at for not giving a homeless man change outside Leicester Square tube station......

Maybe I should have stuck to the map and avoided these out of the way areas......

FintanMcluskey

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Dublin is a great place. Depends on where you live though, if you have a choice it is brilliant in some lovely areas. I live in one of them within the M50 ring and will be carried out in a box.

That doesn't mean that there are no issues at all, far from it, but that's life everywhere. Sure aren't the solo houses in country areas plagued with nomadic visitors up to no good, robbing dogs and worse.

Every place has it's pluses and minuses. But if you are a townie, Dublin is the best there is IMV.

I love the place, the whole county.

Im not from there, Im what ye people call a bog monkey but from the city centre to south Dublin, the mountains, Dalkey, Dun Laoighre, Malahide, Phoenix Park, and the city Nightlife, not to mention Croke Park packed the the rafters on the big days it really is a gem of a county/city I think.

Hego Damask

Unadulterated KIP caller!!!!

Spanish Eyes

Strumms wrote: »

10000%

Perhaps with the metro there will be less buses using it. Less transient footfall less people just going there to get away from there... and it can become more a place to go because it’s nice, safe, full of decent amenities.

Yes O'C Street has so much potential.. Massive really.

Dare I say that it is surrounded by run down flats and Corpo housing down Talbot Street and Parnell and so on.

Disaster for the main street in a Capital City alright. Much as I love my city, the last place I would go is there or anywhere in the North Inner City. That is not right, but there we are. One crowd are shouting for MORE funds for their unwell, and businesses want footfall and a nice Main Street.

I don't know what DCC is about anymore really. But I live in hope.

Spanish Eyes

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

I love the place, the whole county.

Im not from there, Im what ye people call a bog monkey but from the city centre to south Dublin, the mountains, Dalkey, Dun Laoighre, Malahide, Phoenix Park, and the city Nightlife, not to mention Croke Park packed the the rafters on the big days it really is a gem of a county/city I think.

I'm a townie but love where my OH is from up North West too (in small doses lol).

Am very glad you found the lovely spots that us Dubs have known for yonks. Great place and thank you for the uplifting post.

Most messages about Dublin are so negative. Knee jerk I suppose.

FintanMcluskey

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

I'm a townie but love where my OH is from up North West too (in small doses lol).

Am very glad you found the lovely spots that us Dubs have known for yonks. Great place and thank you for the uplifting post.

Most messages about Dublin are so negative. Knee jerk I suppose.

I think the best kept secret is the mountain's.

The view of the city from Ticknock is staggering.

Spanish Eyes

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

I think the best kept secret is the mountain's.

The view of the city from Ticknock is staggering.

Indeed it is. And another good one is from the Blue Light pub. Magnificent after a long walk when the OH will pick you up after a few lol.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.2545517,-6.2310569,3a,75y,55.98h,109.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sd1MEohcwdfCR-KFEHFxpXA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

dd973

I feel I'm in the real Dublin in the better suburbs like Clontarf, Glasnevin, Sandymount, Blackrock, etc.

Last time I was there the city centre felt like a gigantic tourist trap, on the Grafton St side it's combined with Dublin douchebags and poseurs, the O'Connell St side combined with prams, tracksuits and Roma. It has something of a globalised soulless Hiberno-London vibe to it these days.

Larbre34

How quickly we forget. When I was a nipper in the late 70s early 80s half the City within a 3 mile radius of O'Connell Bridge was literally derelict, great spots like Mountjoy Square and Charlemont Street, just rubble and the odd propped up facade with the sun shining through it.

Yes it has its problems like any City, but overall I'd choose to spend time in it a hundred times over the many properly grim and soulless cities I've been to. The key thing over the next 10 years is restoring residential life to the city centre, making it viable and vibrant 24/7.

I know I'm looking forward to the end of covid and a long saturday in the city centre from lunch to afternoon pints to a gig to a burger and a jo maxi home. What could be nicer.

kowloonkev

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

DCC have a lot to answer for here. O'C Street is just perfect with the wide pavements for outdoor dining and that, and it could transform the place big time.

But I suppose the punters would be plagued with the unwell tapping their way up and down the street.

Worth a try though, Covid restrictions permitting of course. There are lots of ways to gentrify run down places. The only imagination in DCC is cycle lanes AFAIS. But many of the councillors represent the unwell and the so called disadvantaged and so on, so will only vote through things that help their deprived communities. That has to change. The city is for everyone especially those who pay for it.

Would that be outdoor dining at Supermacs or Mcdonalds?

Seriously, O'Connell street is a nippy enough spot most of the year with not great amounts of sunlight. It would require major development to create an environment for outdoor eating but how many days a year would you get out of it? And this is Ireland so it would inevitably be outdoor drinking and smoking rather than eating and thus lead to even more anti-social behaviour.

I agree that there is a lot of space that should be put to better use. It is so sterile (apart from the junkies of course) and cold. The street should be lined with trees and plants for a start but the DCC approach is the less maintenance required the better.

seenitall

I don’t like Dublin, I never did. Its city centre buildings near the Liffey are very imposing but the general street layout and the traffic infrastructure give it all a very distant, disordered and unappealing vibe. The O’Connell street is a zoo. I am from central Europe, so I thrive in a city like Vienna (you can slot in here a whole load of other central European cities instead of Vienna, btw, and it holds true), ordered, pretty, in places of course grandiose but with much more of a humanistic feel to it, as the infrastructure and the amenities seem to somehow be on a more accessible level than in Dublin. Dunno, the way that traffic flows. The city buses are smaller, you have trams going everywhere, even the traffic lights seem to be closer to you somehow. In Dublin, everything seems to be built more to the measure of a city, rather than to the measure of a person, if you know what I mean. The only part that reminds me of home in any way is St Stephen’s Green and the area around it.

I also think that half of my bad perception of Dublin lies with the lack of investment toward making the city more attractive for the street level experience. Not all of it, but maybe half. Things could be improved with a bit of vision.

Before I get the “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”, I do not of course live in Dublin, haven’t in a long time. The west of Ireland is a different story altogether, where I don’t even look for a big city experience, as that would be nuts. I am prioritising some other stuff right now, and for that the wesht is perfect.

AllForIt

manonboard wrote: »

Home after 2 years for a visit.

When walking with a friend in brick field park, a gang of youths tried to start something.
I grew up in the city so I know to keep walking, don't flinch, n start talking louder to my friend about something serious as it confuses them n ignores them at the same time.

I forgot this happens non rarely in dublin. It didn't happen once in the two years in helsinki. Im an immigrant there. I dont see anything like it there.
Dublin has had an ever increasing problem of youths with bad behaviour getting worse because consequences and monitoring have gotten less.

Did they throw a brick at you?

Spanish Eyes

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Yes O'C Street has so much potential.. Massive really.

Dare I say that it is surrounded by run down flats and Corpo housing down Talbot Street and Parnell and so on.
......

Larbre34 wrote: »

...... over the many properly grim and soulless cities I've been to. The key thing over the next 10 years is restoring residential life to the city centre, making it viable and vibrant 24/7.
........

Loads & loads of folk live in Dublin city centre..... By restoring residential life you must mean doing something with the current residents?

agoodpunt

it like a ghost town now i live in the centre miss al the tour open top buses lined along o connell st
Clerys is progressing nicely looking forward to their rooftop feature wish they would get a move on with the eyesore opp the greshem hotel
lot of the drug zombies gone off the street no loss begging thought is still everywhere (help me i am homeless) even though we have 70 homeless charities reg in dublin.
I think cv19 has reduced crime generally comon the dubs 6 in a row

MadYaker

With coronavirus there’s literally no reason to live there unless it’s the only place you can get work.

zell12

Joe Duffy says Dublin is an unadulterated kip

Klonker

I think this is a Ireland issue, not just a Dublin issue but the bigger the city, the bigger the problem.

The issue is our justice system. The amount of people who have 20 plus criminal convictions is crazy, they are going around causing havoc for all the law abiding citizens and get a suspended sentence because they had a hard upbringing. And of course when they have children they turn out the very same, what else would be expected and its even worse with the children because if they are under 18 they can get away with almost anything without punishment.

I think more guards on the streets would help. Its very rare you'd meet a guard walking around in Dublin in comparison to when you are walking around other cities around the world. But even at that you'd have to ask yourself why would the bother to burst themselves chasing some 15 year old who robs a bike or assaults someone as if they actually caught them they'd meet them back out on the street the next day probably doing the same thing.

francois

Been hearing the same crap about it going downhill for decades now.

Valresnick

Klonker wrote: »

I think this is a Ireland issue, not just a Dublin issue but the bigger the city, the bigger the problem.

The issue is our justice system. The amount of people who have 20 plus criminal convictions is crazy, they are going around causing havoc for all the law abiding citizens and get a suspended sentence because they had a hard upbringing. And of course when they have children they turn out the very same, what else would be expected and its even worse with the children because if they are under 18 they can get away with almost anything without punishment.

I think more guards on the streets would help. Its very rare you'd meet a guard walking around in Dublin in comparison to when you are walking around other cities around the world. But even at that you'd have to ask yourself why would the bother to burst themselves chasing some 15 year old who robs a bike or assaults someone as if they actually caught them they'd meet them back out on the street the next day probably doing the same thing.

Yeah the whole total lack of accountability for anything in Ireland is becoming an issue.

Gervais08

Some parts are absolutely lovely, some are scum filled s**tholes.

I agree with everyone that accountability is needed - walk past the council offices on the Quays and there’s open drug dealing.

Kylta

mr_fegelien wrote: »

Dublin is one of the few capital cities (if not the only one) of a developed country where the city centre is ****e and the best looking parts are an hour away.

New York, London and L.A. may have their grim parts, but any tourist who wants to avoid junkies and grim parts just has to follow the tourist map and stay within the good sides.

No such thing for Dublin. O'Connell Street looks like a rundown kip. Dublins image can only be appreciated once you drive towards Donnybrook and the N11 or Merrion Square.

If your not happy in dublin, why dont you leave it, I'm sure london new york or some other place will have you

steddyeddy

mr_fegelien wrote: »

Dublin is one of the few capital cities (if not the only one) of a developed country where the city centre is ****e and the best looking parts are an hour away.

New York, London and L.A. may have their grim parts, but any tourist who wants to avoid junkies and grim parts just has to follow the tourist map and stay within the good sides.

No such thing for Dublin. O'Connell Street looks like a rundown kip. Dublins image can only be appreciated once you drive towards Donnybrook and the N11 or Merrion Square.

LA is an absolute kip. Have you been?

Kylta

I'm a true blue and I as much as I love dublin, its just the same as any other city. It has its good spots, its rich spots, its poor spots, its drug culture, its criminal underworld, all that makes up a city. And I gather if you ask anybody in galway, limerick, cork or belfast, they'll say the same thing. The media makes of dublin what it wants (today is the greatest city on the planet) and when it wants(tomorrow dublin is a drug infested kip). Like all cities when your visiting you can have a good or bad experience in it. But I'd recommend living in the city before judging it. Oh Up the Dubs

Yamanoto

mr_fegelien wrote: »

New York, London and L.A. may have their grim parts, but any tourist who wants to avoid junkies and grim parts just has to follow the tourist map and stay within the good sides.

Hollywood walk of fame's a health and safety nightmare.

Tramp's ass juice all over the sidewalk.

Kylta

Valresnick wrote: »

We need a decent mayor that can clean the place up...

I don't think our mayor has any power.

rob316

Nothing but hassle up there whenever I went on the beer, I've never gotten in a fight in my life on a night out I managed to get in 3 one night in Dublin. I don't find the people there particularly friendly, not like other parts of Ireland. I lived around ringsend for 6 months about 10 years ago I absolutely hated it.
The inner city is rough but my home city Cork is gone to the absolute dogs, it's overrun with junkies and beggars.

Kylta

zell12 wrote: »

Joe Duffy says Dublin is an unadulterated kip

Joe who?

Valresnick

Kylta wrote: »

I don't think our mayor has any power.

So what’s the point of the role then ? You could say that nobody really has any power when it comes to authority in Ireland ! The hordes of scrotes are now well aware of this.

Gardaí - powerless
Judiciary - hands tied
Parents - couldn’t care

Etc etc