US Embassy says tourists should “keep a low profile” in Dublin

American citizens in Ireland have been issued a warning about personal safety following recent violent incidents in Dublin. 

The US Embassy in Ireland issued the warning after an American tourist was assaulted on Talbot Street last week.

In a travel advisory issued yesterday, the US Embassy in Dublin refers to “a number of recent incidents reported in the Irish media” and stated that travellers should safeguard valuables, such as credit cards and passports, and refrain from carrying large amounts of cash, which is common advice given by the American embassy in relation to other countries.

The advisory said that American tourists should “keep a low profile” on Dublin streets.

“The US Embassy Dublin encourages all citizens to be aware of their surroundings, especially when traveling in unfamiliar places, crowded locations, empty streets, or at night,” it said.

The warning urges US citizens to be aware of their environment and to avoid walking alone, in particular during hours of darkness.

The Embassy advised citizens that “pickpocketing, mugging and ‘snatch and grab’ thefts of mobile phones, watches and jewelry can occur”.

The US tourist who was attacked in the Talbot Street area has suffered “life-changing injuries” and remains in Beaumount Hospital.

Two assaults took place in the city centre on monday, with a woman hospitalised after an assault on Price’s Lane on Temple Bar and a man was seriously injured after being assaulted at Jervis Street on Monday night.

Last month, a Ukrainian actor was hospitalised after being assaulted outside the Abbey Theatre.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said people are being “attacked all the time” on Irish streets as he acknowledged it will be “very hard” to meet the target of recruiting 1,000 gardaí this year despite a recruitment push and promises of more gardai being deployed to the streets of Dublin.

The Taoiseach said that telling people to avoid certain areas in Dublin or calling certain streets dangerous “is the wrong approach” to tak, noting that when there is an attack on a visitor to Ireland it often garners more attention.

“Sometimes when it’s somebody from overseas, it gets more coverage than when it’s an Irish person, but there sadly are Irish people resident in this country being attacked all the time on our streets, and that’s not something that we can accept,” he said.

Last week, Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan said there was an element of “lawlessness” in Dublin, and Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said Dublin had become a “national embarrassment.”