Speaking in the Dáil this week, Labour TD Robert O’Donoghue said there had been a “recent surge in antisocial behaviour in the Northwood area of Santry, particularly around Gulliver’s Retail Park.”
“There has been a recent surge in antisocial behaviour,” he said.
“Families, residents and business owners feel increasingly unsafe due to targeted and aggressive incidents, including reports of cans and stones being thrown at passersby, including children, in public spaces but, more worryingly, racially motivated incidents and incidents of harassment.”
He went on to say that locals had provided “detailed reports” of the ongoing problems.
“These are not just isolated events,” O’Donoghue continued.
“They are evidence of a wider pattern that the residents say has been building in recent months.”
He called for a more visible Garda presence and better public lighting in the area, and also raised concerns over the lack of local coordination between authorities.
“I am calling for a more visible Garda presence and patrols,” he said. “There is a need for a collaborative effort involving gardaí, Fingal County Council and local stakeholders to address this issue and to re-establish the joint policing committees, which have been stood down for more than 12 months now.”
In response, Minister of State Neale Richmond condemned the abuse and said that Garda recruitment and local policing were top government priorities.
“Such behaviour is a scourge that we must all stay united in our opposition to,” he said.
“Getting more gardaí on our streets is this Government’s first priority in the area of justice.”
Richmond said 6,700 people had applied to join An Garda Síochána in the most recent recruitment campaign, and that the number of gardaí in the DMR North division had increased by 107 since 2015.
He added that the government was replacing Joint Policing Committees with Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs), which would have broader membership and include residents, local authorities, education bodies, the HSE, Tusla and more.
“These partnerships…will build on the good work of the joint policing committees,” he said. “Each LCSP will develop a tailored community safety plan for its area.”
He stated that a total of 36 LCSPs would be rolled out nationwide once final regulations are completed, with two in Fingal—north and west.
Addressing the local situation in Santry, Richmond said that “high-visibility patrols” had been increased in response to a robbery in Gulliver’s Retail Park, and that one suspect had been arrested and was before the courts.
He said community policing efforts were ongoing.
Concerns about crime and antisocial behaviour have become an increasingly prominent issue in Dublin over the past year, with multiple politicians raising the topic in Leinster House and reports of disorder in areas such as Ballymun, Tallaght, the city centre and more.