Car robberies are causing ‘huge distress’ in Cherry Orchard, councillor says

An increase in the number of cars being stolen and burnt out in the Cherry Orchard area is causing “huge distress” for locals, a councillor has said.

Sinn Fein councillor Daithí Doolan said that over a single weekend, several cars may be stolen with many local people growing increasingly concerned about the criminal behaviour.

“There is serious concern at the increase in the number of robbed cars terrorising Cherry Orchard,” he said.

“This is causing huge distress for the community, particularly the elderly and those with young children.

“Those involved need to take a long hard look at themselves and the damage they are doing to this great community.”

Doolan says that more action needs to be taken by the local authorities to deal with the issue.

“Local Gardaí are doing their best under difficult conditions,” he says.

“We urgently need a coordinated action plan at the highest level of the Gardaí, Dublin City Council and Government to tackle this head on.

“Otherwise, another generation will be lost to this criminality.”

In July, Doolan said at a Dublin City Council Joint Policing Committee that communities such as Cherry Orchard are living with “trauma” due to ongoing criminal and anti-social behaviour.

He said that some neighbourhoods are “teetering on the edge of lawlessness”.

Doolan said that unemployment, poverty, and a lack of dedicated resources are driving the causes of the problems in areas like Cherry Orchard.

“We’re not talking about individuals in trauma but families and whole communities in trauma from intergenerational issues caused perhaps by drug-related intimidation, addiction, unemployment, mental health, violence, criminality,” he said.

“If that happens over and over and over again in a concentrated area then the people are living with trauma all the time.

“They are living with violence or the threat of violence all the time and that manifests itself in very clear ways.

“If you’re living in constant fear all the time, you’re living almost on adrenaline.”

Doolan said that the spate of car robberies and associated criminal behaviour need to be addressed “before a third or fourth generation is sucked into trauma.”

“It can be every week or every few weeks.

“You can have the robbed car syndrome, where there are cars tearing up and down the road,” he said.

“The gardaí can’t pursue them.

“They have a policy of non-pursuing because they feel they make the situation worse.

“The scramblers, the robbed bikes, the drug-related intimidation and some of the chaos that goes along with addiction,” he said.

“It’s about working with these communities to put in place systems that work for these communities and invest in these communities long-term.”