Crime in Dublin City Centre is running rampant and destroying local communities, Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn has warned.

“The climate in Dublin at the moment is a climate of absolute fear and foreboding,” the Dublin Councillor told The Pat Kenny Show this morning.

Following riots in the city centre across the last two years, many residents and business owners have spoken of how they feel unsafe in the city with crime on the rise.

Cllr Flynn said the situation in the city centre is catastrophic, adding that members of his community have begged him to help them relocate outside the city because of the issue.

He hit out at Gardaí and Dublin City Council in particular, insisting that poor estate management and a lack of law enforcement are at the heart of the city’s problems.

“An Garda Síochána, the local authorities and all those responsible have not enforced the law over the last couple of years,” he said.

Cllr Flynn said he believes Dublin City Council in particular has failed in its obligation to manage social housing estates

Decriminalisation

Apart from calling for stricter enforcement, Cllr Flynn also pushed back against the idea that decriminalisation of drugs would improve the situation.

“How can you deal with drugs in our streets when 99% of the political parties want to decriminalise drugs, but won’t deal with the issue of addiction, of criminality?” he said.

Even in cases where those with addiction issues are being housed, Mr Flynn said there is “no backup in terms of service” available to them.

“Also there’s very little service for those people who are not addicted, who are trying to get on with their lives,” he continued.

Retired officers

Cllr Flynn said a heavier police presence could help solve the problem – calling on the Government to bring retired officers back to the job, as he believes their experience would be of benefit.

“I suggest that the minister, Mr Paschal Donohoe and the Minister for Finance, and indeed the Taoiseach, recall all those officers who have retired early who have expertise,” he said.

“People do not want to live in the city because of the fact that they're being destroyed, they’re being undermined, they’re being threatened,” he said.

The CSO showed in its first quarterly report this year that recorded incidents of robbery, extortion and hijacking were up by 18% since the same period last year.

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