North Circular Road- near Oxmantown Road

peterpanman

Hi everyone and thank you for taking the time to read my issue.
I have been looking for somewhere to rent for quite a while now and in the spur of the moment i found a studio apartment on the north circular road. the apartment is very close to phoenix park gates. the gates can be seen from the apartment and it is adjacent to oxmantown road. I viewed the apartment today and as it was quite nice i put down a deposit and paid the first month of rent. i have not moved in yet.
however since telling a few people about this, including my girlfriend, they warned me that the area is dangerous. safety is my main priority so i wanted to find out how safe is this area of north circular road? i do not want to live in constant worry that a scumbag will break in or mess around outside my house or even cause me any danger on the roads... all i want is a peaceful life.
am i overreacting or right to be concerned? i'm hoping someone more familiar with this area of Dublin can help me.
i also read that on match and concert days, these roads are closed off and as i would be needing to travel to work by bus on a daily basis, would this be a huge inconvenience?
i am now wondering if there is any chance i might be able to get my deposit and rent back from the landlord? is there ANY excuse which would work for me as i really dont want to take any risks.

thanks a lot guys

peter

alastair

You're over-reacting.

There's some problem flats nearby, but that doesn't make walking up the NCR dangerous, and Croke Park event days aren't going to mean road closures that should impact on you (it's normally just the Jones road and Clonliffe road shut down - and only on weekend days, both easily avoided if you live up at the gates end of the NCR. Major finals will mean a short stretch of the NCR is closed off - but again, easily enough bypassed - they're not on bus routes in any case). I've lived more or less beside Croke Park for years and it's not been a major hassle.

Burglary is a risk anywhere in Dublin.

miamee

First of all you are nowhere near Croke Park, so road closures on match days should not affect you. I don't think you'll have too many concerts in the Phoenix Park to worry about after the summer gigs we just had! Even then there were only a handful of them in the whole year.

Secondly, you started off the post asking for advice about the area and by the end had yourself convinced not to live there Don't panic. I know people who live in the area and love it! Admittedly they are a little further into the area behind you in the little streets off Oxmantown Road but one particular friend has lived there for 2 years and is in his 3rd home there. That means he has chosen to live there twice when he could have moved somewhere else. If you have a car and the parking is on-street, I would worry about that, but that is all.

grizzly

Your chances of getting mugged/attacked in the street goes up the closer you live to the city centre. I think it's just because increased traffic means increased danger. That said, I've not had any trouble living in that area for 5 years.

uck51js9zml2yt

If its the new apartments next to the park gates you're fine.

Like everywhere else in Dublin, dont leave your head behind you when you leave the apartment and be aware of your surroundings. I lived in the area for years and have family off omantown road still.