Malahide: Locals fed up with recent violent behaviour

Malahide and Howth residents are calling on the Gardaí to up patrols after several anti-social incidents occurred in the coastal towns over the past few weeks.

Numerous videos have circulated on social media showing young people surrounding cars, pushing a woman off a train station platform, and assaulting another teenager with a bicycle lock.

In one of the incidents, which occurred in April at Howth Junction Dart Station, a teenager pushed his bike in the direction of a woman walking on a train platform which caused her to stumble and fall onto the tracks below, beside a stationary train.

The woman was lifted from the tracks by a security guard as the youths leave the scene.

Earlier this month, in Malahide, a video circulated showing a group of young people surrounding a car at a set of traffic lights as one of the youths climbed on top of the car, seemingly to avoid being assaulted.

The same video shows the youth being attacked by the group before the driver of the car gets out and chases after the group.

In a statement, the Gardai say they are “investigating an incident of assault which occurred in Malahide Village at approximately 8:45pm, 1st May 2021.

“A male juvenile teen received non-life-threatening injuries.

“He was not treated by medical personnel at the scene. Investigation is ongoing.”

Regarding the incident where the woman fell off the station platform, the Gardaí say they are “investigating an incident of assault that occurred in Howth Junction Dart Station on 1 April 2021 at approximately 9pm.

“A woman fell from the train platform during the incident and sustained injuries.

“An investigation is ongoing into this matter. No arrests have been made at this time.”

The Gardaí said that “proactive patrols” at DART stations to combat the problem of anti-social behaviour would be beginning in coordination with Irish Rail.

Save Malahide Village, a group of residents and business owners who are campaigning for the reopening of New Street to two-way traffic on a permanent basis, says the pedestrianisation of the street has played a role in the anti-social behaviour.

In a statement, the group said: “Since we started in Summer 2020 we have campaigned to have New Street re-opened to two way traffic and the agreed Malahide Public Realm Strategy implemented.

“As residents and businesses, we have a range of concerns, including that the creation of a Temple Bar-style area by Fingal County Council in the heart of our historic village will act as a focal point for and escalate anti-social behaviour.

“This disruptive behaviour is not new, but we believe it has become more frequent, more visible and more violent.

“Coupled with the normalisation of illegal consumption of alcohol in public places which should be family friendly, we want council officials and elected representatives to take action now to prevent a summer of chaos in our village.”

However, Mayor of Fingal and Green Party councillor David Healy says the anti-social behaviour does not stem from the pedestrianisation of New Street – which is currently not pedestrianised.

“We’ve had a recurrent problem with vandalism and violence in early summer in our coastal towns, including Malahide, Howth and Portmarnock,” he said.

“The Garda Síochána have been organised to engage with it in previous years but it seems as if this year they have been taken by surprise with the earlier arrival of this problem.

“We need to ensure that sufficent Garda resources are in place to effectively police our streets.

New St. isn’t currently pedestrianised, but converted to one-way, with extra space for people walking.

“I’m not aware of any credible argument which would connect the one-way nature of New Street or any other local street for that matter with the problem of vandalism and violence being experienced at other locations in Malahide.”