“High visibility policing needed” on Dublin streets says Mayor

Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste said “high visibility policing is needed” on the streets of Dublin.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, de Róiste said there has been a 4% drop in gardaí working in stations in Dublin’s north inner city since the start of the year.

De Róiste said there is a perception that Dublin is “unsafe.”

“For my part, I believe Dublin is a safe city in the main and we are always going to have instances, but the perception of Dublin is that it is unsafe at the moment, that we do have a lot of antisocial behaviour on the streets.”

“We see these instances in recent weeks about what’s happening and I’m saying it’s simply not good enough and we need an urgent response to address this.”

De Róiste, who is also serves as the chair of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee, said there were 615 gardaí last month in the Dublin north central division, down from 639 from the start of the year.

He said while new gardaí are qualifying, just as many are retiring or leaving the force.

“There are 222 recruits being sworn in but that’s versus 150 that have retired and 59 that have resigned so there is a net increase of about 13 guards – we need a lot more to make Dublin a much safer place,” he said.

The assault of American tourist Stephen Termini on Store Street last week has brought Dublin into the national conversation, with Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan saying that there is an element of “lawlessness” in Dublin, and Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy saying “I think many people have come to the realisation that Dublin city centre has become a national embarrassment.”

Speaking on RTÉ News last week, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said “I’m somebody who is from Dublin and lived in Dublin all my life. But like any city, it has a problem with public order offences and violence happen.”