High-profile incidents of violence such as the fatal stabbing on South Anne Street early on Saturday contribute to a perception that Dublin is increasingly unsafe, according to the spokesman for an umbrella group representing more than 2,000 city traders.
However, statistically, Dublin is no more dangerous than other cities of a comparable size around Europe, Richard Guiney said.
The chief executive of Dublin Town, the non-profit organisation representing 2,500 businesses in the capital, said the stabbing, which was described on Sunday by the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan as “disgusting”, understandably made people more fearful. And Mr Guiney pointed to a growing number of people who believe the city centre is not as safe as it once was.
Mr Guiney said Dublin Town conducted “extensive research” last summer that showed many people do not feel safe in the capital.
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“That is the main reason why people don’t come into the city centre and we need to address it,” he said.
He argued the challenge was not centred around isolated incidents but systemic issues that require an integrated approach if they are to be addressed.
“It is about how we manage the city,” he said. “It is about how we work with vulnerable people, it is about the level of policing and how we address derelict spaces – all of those things feed into a perception that the city isn’t as safe as it should be.”
He pointed to a high degree of centralisation when it comes to the funding and decision making across Irish towns and cities.
Dublin City Council accounts for just over 10 per cent of the expenditure for the capital while local authorities in cities of a comparable size across the EU control close to half their cities' budgets, Mr Guiney said.
He also noted that Dublin has about 1,000 fewer gardaí than similar sized cities elsewhere in Europe.
“I definitely think we would be a lot safer and there would be a lot of civic reassurance if we did have those additional police but I don’t think our issues are policing issues alone.”
He accepted that people would be shocked by high-profile incidents of violence such as Friday night’s stabbing “and that obviously does feed into that overall sense that Dublin isn’t where it needs to be. There’s a narrative about the city and it feeds into that narrative” but he stressed that, statistically, Dublin is “not an unsafe city”.
Mr O’Callaghan said he accepted that parts of Dublin were unsafe at certain times of day and that greater Garda visibility on the streets needed to be encouraged.
The Minister said gardaí needed to be able to use facial recognition technology, which would “speed up” their investigations into matters such as the South Anne Street incident.
On Saturday passersby and employees of nearby businesses gathered close to the cordoned-off scene of the stabbing. Ash Thulseepersad, who works in the Gotham Café on South Anne Street, said nightlife in the area can be “full on” but he “would have thought it was a safe enough area”, although he said high levels of alcohol and drugs in the area were problematic.
Patrick O’Neill, owner of Massimo, a suit shop at the corner of South Anne Street and Dawson Street, called for more gardaí to patrol the area at night as there can be “lawlessness out there”.
Eileen Morgan Browne (80), originally from Ballybough, said incidents such as the one on Friday have become “commonplace” and she said she no longer feels safe in Dublin city centre.
“It’s like the scene of a movie, it’s very sad really, I think law and order is breaking down. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a place cordoned off. It just brings it home more.”
