It's high on the political agenda but is the scale of the anti-social behaviour problem being exaggerated? Carl O'Brien reports.
Eileen Douglas is pointing to a metal railing which extends along the back wall of her neatly-kept bungalow in north Clondalkin. "It took four and a half years for the council to put it up," she says gloomily.
"Up until then they were coming in almost every night. They'd come up over the wall every night. They were banging on the windows, knocking bins over. There was nothing to stop them.
"It's happening all over. I know a mother who asked some kids to move off her wall a few months ago. She was beaten senseless by a 15-year-old girl and almost lost her eye."
Things have quietened since the railings were erected around her house on the corner of Moorfield Estate in the west Co Dublin suburb. But the daily anxiety of years of antisocial behaviour has taken its toll on her health, she says.
"If it's not happening, then you're waiting for it to happen," says Douglas (57), who lives on her own and uses two walking sticks to move around. "The pressure is there all the time. I wanted to transfer out of here, but I won't move now. My health is too bad."
Her frustration and fear is shared by residents in suburban and urban areas around the country. Focus groups and polling research among political parties also suggests it's an issue high on the agenda of voters.
The main parties are scrambling to have policies on the issue in place in time for the next general election.
The Government's response has been to say it will introduce anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos), a controversial measure used in the UK that may direct an offender to desist from specific anti-social acts.
Labour, while placing its emphasis on better resources for community policing and the probation and welfare services, has adopted a somewhat tortured position that also embraces Asbos as a measure of last resort.
Fine Gael's plans emphasise the law and order response most, calling for the appointment of a minister with responsibility for antisocial behaviour, as well as the establishment of lower level "courts" in which members of the community would act as adjudicators.
Only Sinn Féin and the Green Party have expressed outright opposition to plans for Asbos. But plans for Absos are welcomed by people like Eileen Douglas who say gardaí seem powerless to tackle antisocial behaviour.
"They can't come in fast enough," she says. "A juvenile diversion project is just a slap on the wrist, the council can't do anything until they're 18 or so, so they know they can get away with it."
Despite assertions that anti-social behaviour is growing out of control, crime statistics suggest otherwise. The number of young people referred to the Garda's juvenile diversion programme - a system for first-time offenders with an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than custody - has remained steady in recent years.
About 17,000 people were referred to the programme in 2003 and figures to be published later this week will be similar. These offences typically relate to public order, drink-related crime, theft, criminal damage and vehicle offences.
While there is a focus on tough legislative measures such as Asbos, this has distracted attention from underfunded aspects of the juvenile justice system which appear to be dealing progressively with nuisance behaviour.
The €5.5 million budget for juvenile diversion projects, such as horse-riding and orienteering, was cut this year. Given that these projects are directed at the most at-risk children, the budget cuts are affecting those who need the most support, say gardaí.
It's 11pm at the Ronanstown Youth Service, a brightly-painted community centre, and a group of teenagers are playing pool, overseen by two veteran youth workers.
While hundreds of young people use the centre, it is also where smaller groups of offending teenagers have been referred under the Garda's juvenile diversion programme.
"The lads over there have been involved in serious stuff like joy-riding," says youth worker Eddie Darcy, pointing at a group of teenagers in hoodies playing pool. "Demonising young fellas at that age is crazy; that'll just alienate them even more. You've got to give them a break."
Working with these young people means winning their trust, challenging their behaviour and restoring some stability to their lives, says Paddy Mills, another youth worker. "If you get them to 18 without a criminal charge, maybe a job and a girlfriend, by that stage it can be safe enough to move them on."
The diversion project at Ronanstown was established 10 years ago in the face of massive anti-social problems, nightly joyriding and constant attacks on the Garda in the area.
"Neilstown [ an estate in the Ronanstown/north Clondalkin area of west Dublin] at one stage was considered the worst area in Dublin," says Mills. "We used to call the Garda station Fort Apache, it was that bad. They'd drive into the station looking for a chase. There'd be four or five stolen cars a night, with hundreds of young people cheering them on, and stoning the patrol cars when they came along."
Through diversion projects, the establishment of youth facilities and education of young people in the area, significant strides were made re-claiming the streets. It has taken time, dedication and patience, says Darcy, but the combined efforts of the community has worked.
"Things have settled down a lot. I don't see any huge surge in anti-social behaviour. Sure, you see gangs of kids drinking, hanging around, but they're not smashing the place up. Anti-social behaviour is very much related to weekend drinking," says Darcy.
It doesn't work for everyone. They estimate that 20 per cent continue to offend, another 20 per cent will never offend, while the remainder will get into occasional trouble.
There are wider problems, they say, such as the under-resourcing of their projects, lack of community policing and support for parents.
In comparison to the vast sum spent on detention, they say their projects represent good value for money. Each diversion project has a budget of around €75,000, which benefits between 25 and 30 young people. In contrast, the cost of a year's detention in Trinity House, a correctional school, for one teenager is almost €250,000.
"There's also a big role for the community to recognise that there has to be space in society for teenagers. We're making the space ever smaller," Darcy adds.
The poor planning that accompanied the construction of suburbs like Tallaght, Lucan and other parts of the country was repeated in north Clondalkin. Thousands of mostly local authority houses were built in the 1970s without shops, schools, community centres or other basic pieces of infrastructure.
Today there are more than 22,000 people living in north Clondalkin. Six thousand people are under 18 years of age. Just 3 per cent of the population is over 65, according to research by the North Clondalkin Community Development Programme.
Young people themselves say they are frustrated at the lack of amenities and are unfairly targeted by authorities as a result.
"There are things for which people should be convicted for, like robbing cars, joy-riding, and things like that," says Andrew Goonery (16). "But there are normal people who hang out on corners, play football, and the neighbours don't want you doing that, because it ruins the grass or whatever. If Asbos come in, I know for a fact they'll be ringing up straight away just for the sake of it. If an anonymous phone call can do it, that's not fair."
"I go out with my friends to the cinema and Liffey Valley, but we don't have money to do that all the time," says Martina O'Brien (16). "So, of course we're going to be doing something that maybe you see as wrong, but that we see as entertaining."
While anti-social behaviour orders are being considered by political parties, there has been little attention trained on the legislative provisions that are already in place or that aren't being implemented.
The Public Order Act 1994 gives sweeping powers to the Garda to order people to leave an area if they are considered to be loitering.
There is also the Intoxicating Liquor Act, which gives powers to gardaí to deal with people considered to be drunk and disorderly. Common law also allows for measures which can bind a person to the peace.
Campaigners against Asbos say there should be more attention on these measures, as well as more community policing, community facilities, more support for families and parents and a better resourced probation and welfare service.
Supporters of Asbos, however, point to what they see as their success in the UK in targeting specific forms of anti-social behaviour in a way that blunter legislative measure cannot.
In the meantime, people like Eileen Douglas are unhappy at the seeming inability of authorities to deal effectively with anti-social problems.
"I'm not complaining about small-time stuff like kids kicking a ball off a wall, or kids screaming about and running and shouting. This is ultimately about people causing someone distress, making them feel uncomfortable, unhappy and intimidated," she says.
"Parents need to be made responsible for their children, we need more gardaí in the area. We also need law-abiding young people to benefit from activities rather than the ones who get into trouble. At the end of the day, when there is a feeling that this kind of behaviour is acceptable and tolerated by authorities, it's going to continue."