Do you feel safe in Ireland?

Mister men

af_thefragile wrote: »

Is it just me or have scumbags become more hostile lately?

Like I remember a few years ago, back in the good happy ol boom days, the scumbags weren't really that bad. Like sure they'ld try to harass you and such but if you speak to them, they'ld be sorta cool at the end of the day and won't really harm you. Most of them atleast.

Now they're more looking for trouble and looking to mug you if they get the opportunity.

Or maybe i've just become more paranoid since Ireland has taken the plunge since the recession...

Your not paranoid. Believe it or not the head shops closing down has a lot to do with the increase in violence we are witnessing. Junkies are becoming more desperate for cash as the dealers charge more than the shops did and are willing to jump someone for cash if they feel the urge. Most of the dealers are selling the head shop drugs at a premium now.

Shenshen

It might be interesting to have a look at this statistic at this point. Ireland can be found at # 32, well below most other European countries.

af_thefragile

Shenshen wrote: »

It might be interesting to have a look at this statistic at this point. Ireland can be found at # 32, well below most other European countries.

But it depends on what you define as crime.
In Ireland killing, raping, robbery etc. is not very common.
In Ireland you're more likely to be killed and/or raped by someone you know such as your husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend etc. Its pretty rare.

Yet small crimes such as scumbags and drunks harassing people on the street and junkies mugging people is a lot more common. These kind of incidents don't really get reported much.

bonerm

Pace2008 wrote: »

I think in foreign countries, our perception of the general threat level may not be accurate.

It can go both ways: one might feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, and perceive a sense of danger when there is none. On the flip side, in Ireland I'd generally be able to recognise through experience a group of potential knackers by dress-sense, accent and mannersims, whereas in foreign countries I wouldn't be nearly as familiar with the tell-tale signs with which I could identify unsavoury sorts.

True. Worse still it has a doubling effect because sometimes we'll even anticipate potential trouble where there is none based on our perception of particular groups we are familiar with.

Shenshen

prinz wrote: »

Yeah possibly but like I said, I haven't come across it where I've lived, and again my wife would think nothing of going on a night out in Dusseldorf and travelling back to Koln, or to visit friends late at night by walking across a city in Germany.

Right now, she doesn't want to take a 5 minute walk from our place in Dublin. She's not afraid of getting murdered or raped or mugged. She's basically afraid of bullies, who get their kicks bullying strangers on the street.

I haven't lived in Dublin for 3 years now, but while I was living there I personally was feeling a lot safer than when I was living in Leipzig while I was at university.
While I was still living at home in a fairly small town in Germany, my mum would go ballistic if I stayed out and walked home past 9 o'clock in the evenings, summer or winter. She forced me to take a taxi for a journey that would have taken me less than 10 minutes by foot, she was too worried about what I might run into otherwise.

Ash.J.Williams

Augmerson wrote: »

Let me be short and to the point: do you feel safe living in this country?

very much so

kerryman12

feeling safe somewhere, anywhere is a state of mind. As long as you apply some common sense most people will go through life blissfully untouched by crime.

Generally yes I feel safe in this country.

Shenshen

af_thefragile wrote: »

But it depends on what you define as crime.
In Ireland killing, raping, robbery etc. is not very common.
In Ireland you're more likely to be killed and/or raped by someone you know such as your husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend etc. Its pretty rare.

Yet small crimes such as scumbags and drunks harassing people on the street and junkies mugging people is a lot more common. These kind of incidents don't really get reported much.

The source data is the Eighth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2002) (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention), according to the web site.

And don't think that it's particular to Ireland that most murders and rapes are committed by people who are related or friends of the victims, that is a global issue.
But true, the statistic could only take into account reported incidents, which is why I guess Mexico is so far down in the list.

prinz

kerryman12 wrote: »

feeling safe somewhere, anywhere is a state of mind. As long as you apply some common sense most people will go through life blissfully untouched by crime.Generally yes I feel safe in this country.

There is more to feeling safe than not being directly affected by crime. Which some people apparently can't understand. I am sure the kid getting bullied day in, day out at school feels 'safer' because what's happening to him technically may not be a 'crime'.

Dudess

I certainly do. Yes of course there are pockets which are unsafe, but overall it is an extremely safe country.

kerryman12

prinz wrote: »

There is more to feeling safe than not being directly affected by crime. Which some people apparently can't understand.

of course there is, hence the first part of the post

prinz

kerryman12 wrote: »

of course there is, hence the first part of the post

The first part of the post is irrelevant. Being bullied is not a 'state of mind'. Having little brats block you on the street and verbally abuse you is not about your 'state of mind'.

maninasia

Pace2008 wrote: »

I think in foreign countries, our perception of the general threat level may not be accurate.

It can go both ways: one might feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, and perceive a sense of danger when there is none. On the flip side, in Ireland I'd generally be able to recognise through experience a group of potential knackers by dress-sense, accent and mannersims, whereas in foreign countries I wouldn't be nearly as familiar with the tell-tale signs with which I could identify unsavoury sorts.

Ah hah, but in Ireland it's not only knackers who get kicks from 'kicking off' but large parts of the population are quite agressive after drink/drugs. I was back in Ireland recently for a quick trip, some drunk dude randomly lashed out at me on the street (wanted to start a fight, two against one, they were obviously drunk and frustrated about something looking for a target), has never happened to me in 15 years of living in Asia...not once!

maninasia

Dudess wrote: »

I certainly do. Yes of course there are pockets which are unsafe, but overall it is an extremely safe country.

Compared to where..this really makes me laugh.

maninasia

Shenshen wrote: »

The source data is the Eighth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2002) (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention), according to the web site.

And don't think that it's particular to Ireland that most murders and rapes are committed by people who are related or friends of the victims, that is a global issue.
But true, the statistic could only take into account reported incidents, which is why I guess Mexico is so far down in the list.

Don't compare Ireland to Mexico, Brazil etc...total disasters of countries!

kerryman12

The first part of the post is irrelevant. Being bullied is not a 'state of mind'. Having little brats block you on the street and verbally abuse you is not about your 'state of mind'.

of course its not, but you can choose how you react to it. I might live in an area with no crime and still be paranoid about it.
Alternatively I might live in a not so nice place but consider it home.

if you have specific experiance then of course that will change you outlook but most people only every hear about something that happened to someone else - hence my point

maninasia

I doubt that, I'd say most people have been touched by crime personally in Dublin. Cars burnt out, cars and houses robbed, random scumbags causing trouble/hassle/muggings, violent drunks, junkies shoplifting etc.

Shenshen

prinz wrote: »

There is more to feeling safe than not being directly affected by crime. Which some people apparently can't understand. I am sure the kid getting bullied day in, day out at school feels 'safer' because what's happening to him technically may not be a 'crime'.

I think there is a difference between perceived threats and a feeling of not being safe resulting from that, and actual threats.

In the time I've been here I noticed that the Irish (generally speaking) seem to perceive a lot more threats than there actually are, and feel unsafe accordingly.
As I said, German media tend not to report crime and violent crime anywhere near as much as, say, RTE does. When I first started watching the news here I was rather surprised that things like arson and the like got reported with odd regularity. You wouldn't get this on German TV, the only time this would get reported if it is a really extreme case like the case of the cannibal, or the businessman getting beaten to death by youths on a normal afternoon on a tram in Munich.
So I think that this over-information about what lurks out there is affecting people's perception of how safe they actually are, and making them feel very unsafe.

prinz

Shenshen wrote: »

I think there is a difference between perceived threats and a feeling of not being safe resulting from that, and actual threats..

That's great, but none of the things I have mentioned have been perceived... and I have heard similar from many, many people.

kerryman12

maninasia wrote: »

I doubt that, I'd say most people have been touched by crime personally in Dublin. Cars burnt out, cars and houses robbed, random scumbags causing trouble/hassle/muggings, violent drunks, junkies shoplifting etc.

You cant think about this stuff in terms of locations, that is a mistake IMO.

AS I was growing up in rural Kerry, we had the following happen

Graffiti coving house, not saying nice stuff
personal proprty damaged
break ins and theft in remote locations
threats of personal injuiry and more to my father

But that place is still my home and I will always make sure I feel safe at home.

I attended college in both Limerick and Tralee. I never saw any trouble in all my years in Limerick - never. And saw plenty of guys getting mauled in Tralee.

Shenshen

prinz wrote: »

That's great, but none of the things I have mentioned have been perceived... and I have heard similar from many, many people.

So do you seriously think that incidents of bullying and harassment are lower in other Western countries?
Not in my experience...

jpm4

Pace2008 wrote: »

I think in foreign countries, our perception of the general threat level may not be accurate.

It can go both ways: one might feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, and perceive a sense of danger when there is none. On the flip side, in Ireland I'd generally be able to recognise through experience a group of potential knackers by dress-sense, accent and mannersims, whereas in foreign countries I wouldn't be nearly as familiar with the tell-tale signs with which I could identify unsavoury sorts.

Great poin t- if people are using a couple of weeks holidays in safe, touristy areas of main European citys as a comparision with years of living in a typical Dublin suburb, then you are simply not comparing like with like. How much more likely are you to experience unsavoury behaviour in a city you live most of your life in compared to places you spend a few weeks in?

maninasia

Certainly bullying is more serious in Ireland compared to Asia, at least from my experience. But bullying does happen everywhere, it's the nature of kids.

prinz

Shenshen wrote: »

So do you seriously think that incidents of bullying and harassment are lower in other Western countries?
Not in my experience...

Great, it is in mine. I have never been spat on, verbally abused, physically abused, assaulted and intimidated anywhere else. Then again I am not referring to schoolyard bullying.

Shenshen

prinz wrote: »

Great, it is in mine. I have never been spat on, verbally abused, physically abused, assaulted and intimidated anywhere else.

Just out of interest, how much time have you spent anywhere else compared to in Ireland?

maninasia

jpm4 wrote: »

Great poin t- if people are using a couple of weeks holidays in safe, touristy areas of main European citys as a comparision with years of living in a typical Dublin suburb, then you are simply not comparing like with like. How much more likely are you to experience unsavoury behaviour in a city you live most of your life in compared to places you spend a few weeks in?

Lots of posters including myself have lived in multiple countries worldwide, Ireland has a higher general feeling of unease due to the chance of randomers kicking up trouble at any time than many of the countries we visited or lived in...in my mind that's due to the general passiveness of law enforcement, cultural ambivalence to violence, drink and drugs.

I have spent over 10 years in Asia , this is absolutely my experience! -I have never been spat on, verbally abused, physically abused, assaulted and intimidated-

prinz

Shenshen wrote: »

Just out of interest, how much time have you spent anywhere else compared to in Ireland?

I have spent about two and a half years abroad, France (in two cities), Germany (again a number of places), Belgium and in the US. Compared to that I have only lived in Dublin for a little longer.

Shenshen

prinz wrote: »

I have spent about two and a half years abroad, France (in two cities), Germany (again a number of places), Belgium and in the US.

I really don't want to come across as a smart-arse, but with having spent most of your life in Ireland, if you were to become the victim of assault or bullying, chances are it would happen in Ireland, wouldn't it?

I've lived here for near enough a decade now and haven't been the victim of any harassment or anything, but have made such experiences while I grew up in Germany.
I've also lived in Canada for a while, and while I haven't had any negative experiences there either I wouldn't fool myself on how safe living there is. I was there for too short a time to really know.

I wouldn't exactly feel unsafe in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, but I do feel safer here than I would in many other places.

Dudess

maninasia wrote: »

Compared to where..this really makes me laugh.

It makes me laugh even more that you'd actually think Ireland overall is unsafe. Compared to where? Vast chunks of Latin America, Africa, Eurasia, Asia.

Micky Dolenz

If you think Ireland is unsafe, don't even think about travelling the world.