Is dublin a kip??

Kingp35

I read over the weekend that 80% of peole are afraid to walk through dublin city at night for fear of being mugged. I couldnt believe this becasue i travel through town alot at night on my home and i have never had any problems.

It was said that guys stand around waiting for you to look at then then imediately try start a fight.

Just wondering what you guys think people from th country too waht did you think when you came to dublin?? I dont get what all the fuss is about its the same wherever you go.

hedgetrimmer

I was born and bred in Dublin (malahide) and live just off the city centre now. I regard myself as a respectable person, *never* go out looking for hassle. I have been attacked 3 times in Dublin, and I am always *wary* walking down the streets..more noticable when I came to Belgium and *relaxed*.

I can't wait to get a place down the country and leave Dublin behind permanently

Chinafoot

same as everywhere really, theres good and bad bits.

after living away for a year i dont like it. but thankfully im not too close to the city (balbriggan).

i dont think its the worst though.

Kingp35

well i suppose i live in Dalkey so maybe i dont know everything that goes on but whenever im in town and out at the weekend i dont have any problems.
Other cities would be alot nicer and cleaner than dubli but they wouldnt really be considered safer

Sleepy

I wouldn't go so far to say I fear for my life if I'm walking through town at night but I'm certainly a lot more wary than when walking through Galway (my hometown) at night. When I first moved up, yeah, I was paranoid to the point that if myself and my ex were walking through town at night (even during the early evening at times) I'd have one hand holding hers and the other had my keys bunched between my fingers ready to let fly...

It's not the worst place in the world, but it's only place I've ever lived for a long period of time where I'd worry about my safety if I decided to walk home alone at night.

BuffyBot

When I used to work nights I used have to walk from the Quays (where one bus would let me off) to Middle Abbey Street for another bus. I always felt I had to look over my shoulder.

I live in London at the moment, I feel much more comfortable walking around London at night than I would Dublin.

Imposter

When i lived there it wasn't all that safe during the day either.

alienhead

parts of city centre i would be a bit wary, i'd say it's alot scarier if your a girl on your own.

SheroN

have never had any trouble at all.
*touches wood* (in a non sexual way)

krattapopov

ive never had any problems either

touch wood and eh umm yeah in a non sexual manner

User45701

My option isent there.

I belive dublin isent safe at night but i do want someone (1 person, mabe 2, 3 at MOST) to try and mug me some fri or sat on my WAY to the pub NOT after the pub.

I just dont understand why they dont install camras EVERYWHERE so whenever a crime happens they know who did it. Then they can be SEVERLEY punished

IDM

Grew up in Washington DC & Paris, so they're obviously the two I'll be comparing Dublin to.

What is it about Dublin that makes those of you who feel it's unsafe, feel that way ?

-Knackers ? Heroin addicts ? Alcoholics ?
-Although I actually feel as safe in Dublin as I would in either of my hometowns, I'd say the lack of pedestrian traffic in certain areas, late at night is probably a big reason why people feel unsafe.

There are usually plenty of people on DC streets no matter what time of the night, although the bums can be kind of worrying.

Paris can be scary because of the racaille (knacker equivalent) but again, pretty safe otherwise.

No one has really said what it is about Dublin that makes them feel it's unsafe? So can people start posting their reasons ?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I just hate dublin, never been attacked or anything like that.. but it smells, it's crowded and.. it's a kip.

IDM

Those of you that hate Dublin/think it's a kip ...
Post the name of the city you'd rather live in !

Souless

heh dublin is a kip alrite but its the best kip in ireland its got all the best shops and pubs and cinemas in it. I mean it is scaring leaving town at night. They should make more Gardai walk the beat at night.

Paddy20

Is Dublin a kip ??..

Yes. . Why that simple 'Yes' is not an optional answer to the poll question, is beyond me .

IDM,

For a start, I would rather live in Derry City I will leave you to choose the other 500 or so, as I am too lazy to list them .

IDM

Originally posted by Souless
They should make more Gardai walk the beat at night.

Yeah, that never hurts. Always tons of patrolling officers in DC at night. Makes you feel safe.

My sister came back late one night from the IFSC to where we live just above Trinity, & she said she saw only one person the whole time.

Can understand how that could cause someone to worry, especially a girl.

dictatorcat

Dublin's fine, i've walked home pissed at all hours and have never had much trouble (i too to touch wood, but only in a vaguely sexual manner), in fact the only time i ever had trouble with little scumbags was during the day, and even then they just fcuked off when they knew they couldn't rile me. It's the same as any urban area, there's streets you don't walk down at night, and if you do you should know better. That said tourists should be told where it is safe to walk at night.

blondie83

Yeah I think Dublins fine. I've lived here all my life though, so maybe i'm just used to it. I've walked home on my own from town a couple of times (I know its stupid, but there were no taxis, and my friends were all going to somewhere else). I wouldn't be scared walking around the city centre in the early hours of the morning, cos there's so many ppl around, and prob also cos I've never had any trouble there. :ninja:

Dun

Originally posted by Paddy20
Is Dublin a kip ??..

For a start, I would rather live in Derry City.

Do you never read the Derry Journal? Wouldn't want to live in Derry at all. It's grand to be in during the day, but I wouldn't fancy walking in the centre at night.

That plus all the Majellas and their male equivalents do my head in. Mind you as many of them come down to Buncrana that I almost feel like I'm in Derry when I go there.

[Edit] Though as bad as it is, I'd rather live there than Dublin.

Sarky

It's a baby city that still thinks it's a rival for London or New York. I think it tries hard to be like the cool, bigger boys, which it just can't do.

StephenInsane

No, i don't feel threatend or unsafe when walking alone. But when i walk past someone when I'm alone at night, I often get the impression that they feel threatend by me.

Exit

Yep, Dublin is a kip!

As for the other questions, I've never had any trouble in the city centre, day or night, and I've never feared for my life (I think that's maybe a bit strong) but I would be wary.

jetsonx

What the hell is all this hype about Dublin being unsafe at night?

I have walked home numerous times from the city centre and even walked through dodgy areas ( well it was a shortcut!) and have never been hassled.

From my experience of living on the continent...that is a lot mory scary. Walking home
with on-one else around for miles....except some unsavouries lurking in doorways
and stepping out just as you approach...

At least in City Centre dublin at 4am...there is always a Spar shop (for refuge!) open if you did get hassled.


P.S. at least the average knacker indigenous to the streets of Dublin at 4pm is too
drunk/stoned to launch an attack. (imo)

wiped

Dublin born and bred ... never felt unsafe in this town and as for the knacker element ... news flash ... they're everywhere ....

Superman

yeah there are alot of idiots in dublin,who want to wreck you buzz, but if you just do smart stuff and not walk on peirs at 3am you'll be grand. Most things in dublin are ok.

However, I don't like:

• Rubbish on the streets, EVERYWHERE
• Piss everywhere at night
• The bent selection of clubs etc.
• Serious lack of non-alcoholic activities

Interestilngly, at night woman usually feel more afraid on the streets, but statistcally man are more likely to get into a fight. (so being cautious can be a good thing)

Moonbeam

Its no worse then any other large town in Ireland , I hate the place but I dont feel unsafe here.

silverside

Ah Dublin's not the worst at all - there are a few dogy areas, some junkies, some litter, but the place is looking better all the time, the Luas, O'Connell street regeneration, the place has a nice almost european feel about it at the moment. Dublin has a 'soul' thatmost other cities I've lived in don't.

Try living in some ugly english town where Ben Sherman is the height of fashion, you are thrown out of the pubs at eleven, and thirty different types of curry is the extent of the restaurant choice, you will realise what Dublin has.

But I reckon you get bored of any place after ten years or so - if you want a nice change try Madrid, Stockholm, or Melbourne.

Karl Hungus

Christ, it's the biggest kip in the world.
Yes, bit of an over-statement, but it gets the point across well enough.

I generally head to dublin quite a lot, probably about once a month, if not more often. And while I've often felt 'unsafe' and even been in the odd fight, I've generally come up winning, so that's certainly not why I think it's such a kip.

The fact is, it's a filthy ****ing joke of a city!

Having lived in London for the a short time, it's amazing to see how ****ing backwards Dublin really is. Compared to other european cities I've been in, even Valencia and Madrid, it's just incredibly filthy! Public transport is beyond a joke, but while that goes for most of Ireland as a hole, Dublin's public transport is ridiculously congested.

It's beyond me why there aren't more Gardai patrolling at night. Just about every other city I've been in had plenty of guards pacing about city centres. It just seems like common ****ing sense, especially in a kip as big as Dublin.

But it's a backwards, dirty little city that has some mad delusions of gandeur.

garthv

I work in a pub in the city centre.
Ive been workin there for the past 10 months 5 nigths a week and every night i work i walk 15 minutes to my bus stop.In all that time i have never had a bad experience
People that slag dublin either dont live there or just dont know when trouble is about and how to avoid it

The Sweeper

I think Dublin needs to seriously get its act together. There's a political element in Ireland who firmly believe that this "Ireland of the welcomes" crap excuses a lot of really inexcusable elements of the city. I've lived in a few cities, Dublin included, for long periods of time and I really think the place is a shambles.

The one place that strikes me as "where Dublin wants to be when it grows up" is Newcastle Upon Tyne. Newcastle has a pedestrianised city centre, all cobble-lock paving with bus lanes because buses and taxis are the only transport permitted in the dead centre of the city. It also has a "metro" line which is basically the same idea as Luas. The Metro runs in a loop around and through the city, in to the posher residential suburbs and out along the bay as well. There's a metro link out to the airport too. It's generally quite clean and has a pretty amazing nightlife because the centre of the town is policed and managed properly at night - and the tradidition in Newcastle, when "oot on the toon", is to never have two drinks in one establishment so the place is always full of people running about from one bar to the next (and normally too preoccupied with their next drink to start a fight). Closing times are staggered as well between pubs, late bars, clubs, private clubs etc so your night can finish anywhere between 11pm and 5am.

The following are the reasons I think Dublin qualifies for the grand title of "European city of kip":

1. Dirty, dirty, dirty. Christina Aguilera may have been inspired by Dublin. From the gum on the pavements (LOOK at the street next time you're walking around - it looks like we have polkadot paving) to the endless streams of litter, the Liffey where shopping trolleys go to die, the smog from overloaded streets that have TOO much traffic on them and a general inability of half the population to use a litterbin. You know, thanks to the work of certain terrorist organisations who shall remain nameless in recent decades, it's often difficult to find a bin in London, especially at a train station, and STILL it's cleaner than Dublin is.
2. In Dublin's fair city... or not. Dublin is not a pretty looking city. That may sound like crap, but the main street of our capital is thronged with fast food takeaways, 7-11 stores, discount outlets with dramatic advertising. The Anna Livia used to be like one enormous private bin for McDonalds. In recent years Ireland became infamous for the "brown envelope planning process" where you get to do what you like if you pay "de man" enough lolly in unmarked bills, and I think it shows in enormous sections of the city. On top of that, WHY DO WE LAY COBBLE LOCK PAVING, THEN DIG IT UP SIX WEEKS LATER AND FILL IN THE HOLE WITH TARMAC/CONCRETE?
3. Public undesirable transport.I used to move EVERYWHERE in Dublin by bus or by train. For starters, you know the way the bus timetable shows the time the bus was due to leave it's first stop? Believe it or not, not every city in the world does that. Some even show you the time the bus is supposed to get to the stop you're at. The other thing is I have never seen anything like the fag-smoking, takeaway food eating, joint-rolling antics you see on Dublin bus. The bus drivers are terrified for their lives and I have seen more people take a piss upstairs on a bus in Dublin than I would have thought possible. That and the roadworks and traffic congestion means it now takes 2.5 hours to do the journey that took one hour about a year before I left Dublin. I'd love to recommend jumping on the Dart instead, but it's about the same deal, only more crowded at rush hour (at least the bus has a driver to say "here mate this isn't Columbia, stop trying to get to work by squeezing in the 4-inch space just inside the door and throwing your briefcase on the roof". And the last thing about Dublin bus: DRIVERS! There are TWO doors on a bus for a VERY special reason - open the front ones for people to get on and the middle ones for people to get off. You'd be astounded what that does for congestion!

Right, I've covered the endless filth, the crap transport, the general ugliness of the place... I can't be bothered going into more detail lest this become more "War n Peace" and less "a post". I'll just list things without examples:

1. Racism. Dublin has an enormous atmosphere of racial tension because of the enromous influx of non-nationals, and it's not a nice atmosphere to be in.
2. Unblieveable expense of everything from a sandwich and a packet of crisps to a taxi fare.
3. Skangers. Everywhere. As a disproportionately high percentage of the population.
4. Construction. Everywhere. That always goes over budget and past its completion deadline.
5. Misdirected public spending because of a government who don't listen to public opinion. (If we didn't have one spike in Dublin perhaps we could have spent something on the heroin problem and have no spikes in Dublin at all!)

The biggest problem I perceive in Dublin is lethargy. It may come as a shock, but

YOU DON'T GET THE SAME THING EVERYWHERE YOU GO

Dublin. Is. A. Kip.

And it's just not "fine" to take this utterly farcical "Paddy off de boat" mentality and joke about it when things aren't done properly. The port tunnel's the wrong size, oh "dey'll just have te build smaller lorries!" It's a city surrounded by two-lane motorways with impressively wide central reserves ("Oh! Paddy I wonder who we'll give the contract to to widen dis road in foive years?")

And everybody bitches about the country, the price of everything, and the politicians, all of the time. "How badly this country is being run" is generally not one of the top-ten topics of pub conversation in other major cities.

There are far more things that make Dublin a kip than your chances of a mugging on your way home being the highlight of your night.