O’Connell Street has been deteriorating for over 30 years – but it took a riot to make people sit up and take notice, according to head of one of the street’s biggest businesses.

Tomorrow marks 100 days since the Dublin Riots and reporting for Newstalk Breakfast this morning, presenter Shane Coleman took to the streets to see whether anything has changed, for better or worse, since then.

He spoke to Carlton Entertainment Group (CEG) Director Debbie Lawrence who said her staff deal with around three incidents of anti-social behaviour on O’Connell Street every day.

“We've been here since 1991 and in those years, we've seen a huge change in the street,” she said.

“It has progressively deteriorated and in the last couple of years, I've been shouting from the rooftops for something to be done and sadly, it has taken riots for people to sit up and pay attention.”

CEG owns Dr Quirkey’s and the Carlton Casin Club – and Ms Lawrence said staff deal with a wide range of incidents.

“On the 14th of April 2023, I decided to start categorising all incidents we had at our door on O'Connell Street and as of today – so just short of a year into it - I've had 801 incidents,” she said.

“They are anything from people turning up drunk or high on the door to anti-social behaviour, theft, crime, you name it. I had to break it down beyond just antisocial behaviour.”

Newstalk Breakfast presenter Shane Coleman talking to Carlton Entertainment Group Director Debbie Lawrence. Image: Aisling Lynch/Newstalk

Ms Lawrence said extra Gardaí alone won’t solve the problem.

“Putting extra yellow jackets on the street will make the general public feel safe, but those people go home at 5pm in the evening and that's when the creatures appear and the antisocial behaviour really, really increases,” she said.

“We have a lot of social issues that we have to deal with.

“People with issues that the services aren't there for them; they're thrown out of B&B's at 10am in the morning and are left to wander the streets until 10pm at night and we're the people that are picking up the pieces.”

Newstalk Breakfast presenter Shane Coleman talking to Dublin Town CEO Richard Guiney. Image: Aisling Lynch/Newstalk

Dublin town CEO Richard Guiney said the people responded well in the weeks after the riots – with footfall in December up 2% on the previous year.

He said January and February have been “disappointing and challenging”, with footfall down 7% so far this year.

He said an increased Garda presence is welcome – but it is important to address the wider issues around the way the city is managed if we want to breathe new life into it in the future.

Newstalk Breakfast presenter Shane Coleman talking to Hugh Hourican owner of the Boar’s Head on Capel Street. Image: Aisling Lynch/Newstalk

He said we need to encourage more people to live in the city centre and told Shane there are lanes all around the city that would be perfect for apartments.

“We have become defensive, I think,” he said.

“You know we took out toilets for example and we almost turn our back to districts that are problematic, rather than actually saying, ‘Well, what are the opportunities here?’

“That's one of the big differences between, I think, Dublin and some other European cities where they actually look at some places that perhaps have lost their use and actually reinvent them.

“I think that's something where we need to be a bit more imaginative and there are ways of bringing life back to the city and new life because there are going to be new uses in the city.

“You know, the traditional pattern is changing very fundamentally and very quickly, so we need to keep the city relevant for the modern user.”

There have been more than 48 arrests in relation to the Dublin riots in the last 99 days.