Assaulted on the boardwalk this afternoon

That's rubbish. I used to eat my lunch there every weekday in the early noughties and there was a great variety pf people there and less a variety of ne'er-do-wells. I blame social media - it's brought out the worst cnut in so many people.

Only once on Boardwalk last week and nearly mowed down by some some youth on scooter bike who appeared to be selling drugs to addicts sitting on the boardwalk benchs.

The general city centre has a huge amount of dealers and addicts doing their trade and when they are not they are harressing passer bys for money to buy more drugs. A very unpleasant and seedy city centre compared to the likes of London.

Its getting worse each year but law and order is in most places in Ireland - Politicans & Judges dont care.

any time i'm in dublin city centre i seem to avoid dealers and addicts anyway but i'd normally take the dart to pearse or cycle and park bike around south william st area. if you're uncomfortable around addicts and homeless people etc. just stay away from the quays and north city centre, although last time i was out in dublin i thought smithfield had come on a lot, lots of cool bars and restaurants.

Good point on the visual policing.

I actually can't remember the last time I saw Gardai on 'the beat'

I've said before Dublin City Centre should have a dedicated police force much like the London Metropolitan Police, their resources purely dedicated to policing the City Centre.

Its very frustrating, I reckon all it would take is a team of 8-10 Gardai constantly patroling the spine of the city centre from the top of OConnell St to the top of Grafton St. You see it in other city centres where police are just constantly on the beat either walking or on bicycle being visible and stamping out anti social behaviour, drinking, drug taking, pickpocketing etc. Their sole job is to nip stuff in the bud before it gets out of control. Garda management here dont seem to get that style of policing though, they only use reactive policing rather than preventative policing.

Maybe its a lack of resources and manpower for the Gardai, I dont know. But whatever those resources would cost is only a fraction of the lost revenue to city centre businesses because a lot of people I know no longer go in to town as they are tired of the hassle it can involve. You go to Dundrum shoppping center and the place is packed every day of the week because people can shop there in peace without beggars asking them for 2 euro or seeing people lying on benches pissed drunk on cheap cider.

So sorry to hear about that on the boardwalk, Dublin is fast becoming a very unwelcome spot. I do believe tourists will be having very different experiences this coming summer.

Literally thousands of people use the boardwalk every day without getting whacked on the head, how on earth is that hard to believe?

It's unfortunate that the OP was the victim of some antisocial behaviour from some kids making a social media video, but the hyperbole in reaction to that is extreme. I've eaten lunch on the boardwalk and been along there many times, there are often some sad cases hanging around the area for sure but there are also loads of other people around and your chance of being attacked is still extremely tiny.

Ah jayus, didn't think it was that long ago

So the rest of us have to suffer having even less facilities because the Gardaí and Courts service refuse to do their jobs ?

Its obviously a strategic decision made by Garda Senior management to implement this style of policing. Maybe that decision is forced by budget or as you said man power constraints I dont know.

If you were to have City Centre businesses subsidise a Metropolitan style branch of the force which had very visible results Im sure most would welcome it.

The scrotes also have no fear of Gardai, Id say respect but that is long gone, again the style of policing needs to change.

So much with regards to the law and justice system in this country needs to change

that's a bizarre take. new places open on camden and wexford street all the time, hardly all of them just happen to be friends with the political class, many of them are not irish too.

DCC and AGS need to get their act together and make the Boardwalk what it was supposed to be, an attractive feature in the heart of our capital city.

A fortune was spent developing it and then they abandoned ship leaving it to become the mess it is today.

Shape up, clean it up and patrol it or dismantle it altogether.

That's not completely fair. Yes there are people who have always laid it on thick about Dublin and how bad it is. That said, the place went to the absolute pits during the pandemic - times I went through the city in at night and I didn't feel safe.

I don't think the city has recovered from when it was really let go then.

It has been busy and buzzing any time I've been there in recent months. You felt unsafe but nothing happened though 🤷🏻‍♂️