The attack of two off-duty Gardaí over the weekend has - again - raised questions about the safety of Dublin City Centre.

Over the past year, discussions around safety in Dublin city have been brought to centre stage, with many calling for an increased Garda presence.

Candidate for the Trinity Seanad Election Kevin Byrne told The Hard Shoulder that the reality of the situation cannot be ignored any longer.

“If two members of the armed support unit who know how to handle themselves can be assaulted so seriously, it does mean people’s perceptions about the city and safety in the city are real,” he said.

“We have to move past, you know, just saying that they're perceptions and talk about the reality of an issue.

“There’s a great buzz around the city at Christmas – and I live in the city – but we don’t police at the levels of other EU capitals.”

Christmas Lights and shoppers on Grafton Street Dublin. 15/11/2024 Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Mr Byrne said that as well as Garda recruitment and retainment measures, city wardens should also be introduced to provide further assistance.

“I led the only residence group to meet the [Dublin City] Taskforce, and one of the proposals they accepted from us was the idea of city wardens.

“So, I think that’s something we need to push... There’s bylaws in the city covering all sorts of things like parks, drinking and parking.

“They wouldn’t be police officers, but to be a reassuring presence on the street, a friendly face to tourists and locals alike, and add a bit of deterrence.”

'Zero-tolerance approach'

CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said that the ‘revolving door courts system’ is also contributing to the issue.

“You have people that are brought before the courts and they’re out on bail and they’re out doing another whatever else again and they’ve 34 to 40 different convictions behind them,” he said.

“So, I mean, as a representative for business owners, we’re concerned – but we feel Dublin is as safe as it can be at the moment – but we always want to have a zero-tolerance approach to this.”

Action

Mr Cummins said that manifestos promising increased Garda numbers need to be backed up with action.

“I know there’s 170 recruits coming out of Templemore, but you’ve had a substantial amount of retirements as well over the last number of years – and I think what’s another frustration is that uniformed officers are behind the desk doing a lot of clerical work where that could be given over to more civil operation,” he said.

“You get those guys out on the beat with uniforms on or whatever – but like, that’s the issue that businesses are raising with me, that they don’t see enough Guards on the street.

“Obviously, you can’t have one on every street corner, but on certain nights – Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays – you need to have a high visibility nearly all day and all night long.”

Mr Byrne said that levels of anti-social behaviour on the streets of Dublin had gone up over COVID-19 and never come back down since.