Dublin 15 residents “beginning to lose confidence in Gardaí” says Donnelly

Local Sinn Féin councillor Angela Donnelly said that a fire at an apartment complex in Hansfield Wood is a symptom is a wider issue with anti-social behaviour in Dublin 15.

The fire took place in the early hours of Friday, June 6, and residents were evacuated from their homes.

The fire resulted in melted sewer pipes, forcing some residents to be relocated to a local hotel. 

Donnelly said that she has raised the issue of maintenance, broken garage and faulty alarms with Tuath and other housing bodies over the last year, to no avail.

A Tuath manager noted that between January 2024 and August 2024, there were 19 separate alarm calls to property they managed in Dublin 15.

The Sinn Féin councillor said residents were concerned that the management company would not respond to an actual fire if one happened because the alarms went off so often.

“Action was taken and the false alarms were largely addressed, but a resident from the area emailed me following the recent fire saying “the residents are all terrified and have terrible anxiety about what happened and if this will happen again.”

Citing the local resident, Donnelly relayed that the resident sent multiple emails since 2023 about false alarms and how people were meant to distinguish a real alarm from a false alarm.

She further went on to say “I told my young son to go back to sleep that night and tucked him back in, thinking it was a fake alar.m I feel sick to my stomach. As soon as I saw smoke, I grabbed him and ran.”

Donnelly pointed to anti-social behaviour in and around the car park areas, despite increased garda presence in the area, and the issue with gates has still not been resolved.

The Ongar councillor said that gardaí in Blanchardstown and local community gardaí are doing their best with limited resources. 

“These resources have been drained investigating serious crime in the area following incidents like the firebombing of several houses late last year,” she explained.

Friday, June 6 saw the announcement that 120 new guards were sworn in for duty, but Donnelly, who attended the ceremony, said she couldn’t believe her ears when it was revealed that just two of the gardaí who graduated last Friday were being posted to Blanchardstown garda station.

“Areas of Dublin 15 have seen several incidents of anti-social behaviour, and we need an increased garda presence,” she said.

“The Ongar area has seen constant fires in commercial bins and in the recently upgraded Ongar Woods. Council bins across the area are set on fire. The area is covered in graffiti with youths tagging the walls and utility cabinets with no fear of being seen or caught.”

“Our local parks are constantly facing the scourge of scrambler bikes terrorising park users, and scramblers have caused accidents resulting in injuries for some,” she said.

Donnelly said that calls to Garda stations “have got to be prioritised and residents understand that, but without enough Gardai to respond to the low priority but still illegal activity, people are beginning to lose confidence.”