Bloomberg: Coke-Selling Beggars & Punch-Ups Plague Dublin

WILL NEVER LOG OFF

Bit surprised at this, especially since the writer lives in dublin and ought to have some concern over exaggerating the problem.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-23/coke-selling-beggars-and-punch-ups-plague-downtown-dublin.html

Dublin, which declares itself the “City of a Thousand Welcomes,” is baring more of its ugly side. Behind the recovering prosperity in a nation rocked by a five-year financial crisis, aggressive begging, drug dealing and violence can lend the Irish capital an air of menace.

i know it's an irritation but all capitals have blackspots. "Plague" really??

I am pie

Punch ups!

Knuckle Duels!

Boozy Brawlers!

Tis a plague...a plague i tells ya.

Grayson

he's not that wrong. the number of beggars who accost you is stupid. And it's not unusual to see a bust up in temple bar.

smash

There's beggars selling coke now?

SEPT 23 1989

Bloomberg:a station mainly watched by coked up,money worshipping psychopaths

cloud493

Fairly sure this should be moved to the Dublin forum, its a fairly boring topic at this point anyway.

Areyouwell

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Bloomberg:a station mainly watched by coked up,money worshipping psychopaths

The very types who helped put the world economy on it's knees back in 2008.

WILL NEVER LOG OFF

Grayson wrote: »

he's not that wrong. the number of beggars who accost you is stupid.

i've never been accosted in dublin.

to me, accosting suggests confrontation as opposed to some fella saying "any change luv?" or that british man on clarendon street saying "buy the big issue please"

now i'm not particularly intimidating-looking so although it definitely happens some people, i'm guessing confrontation is not quite a plague

fedor.2.

Sorry now, Dublin City centre is an absolute kip. It's like an episode of the walking dead, with all those junkies around, and that scummy,nasally and guttural accent is horrendous.

suicide_circus

I live in dub city centre and walk around it all the time. I am asked for money almost daily but it's rarely aggressive. What tourists and visitors probably find off putting are the many strung out or tweaked out individuals roaming around areas like o'connell st, christchurch, grafton st, georges st, dame st...pretty much anywhere a tourist might be.
Obviously every capital will have addicts but few have them concentrated around the main tourist attractions and also allow them to deal, shoot up, piss and shiit and cause general mayhem with complete impunity.

cometogether

Dublin is not that bad. Some people need to relax

BoJack Horseman

smash wrote: »

There's beggars selling coke now?

When they cross another beggar selling Pepsi, the fighting starts.

BoJack Horseman

As an occasional city centre user, yes, Dublin had indeed a slight air of menace about it.

Locals may become immune over time, but for non-regulars it is apparent & disheartening how Dublin has receded.

Yurt2

The corner of Westmorland St. and Aston Quay opposite O'Connell bridge without fail has people dealing, being arrested for dealing or shoplifting or just junkies bush drinking and asking people for fags. Without fail, there's always hassle there when I pass. Complete magnet for anti-social behaviour and absolute embarrassment.

Billy86

From the article: A gap-toothed man with a beard approaches, asking for cash. Turned down, he offers the drinkers cocaine.

Excuse me a moment, my bullsh*t detector just exploded.

Highflyer13

People need to take their heads out of the sand. There is a serious drug and begging problem in Dublin City Centre. Every day I walk from Harcourt Street to Parnell Square. I know what i am talking about. Whilst most are not very threatening, they create a menacing atmosphere. We have a great city here in Dublin but it could be so much better. Recently I am seeing more awareness from outsiders about issues. It needs to be sorted now.

Oranage2

Actually happened to me before, some little scummer asked me for some money, I said no, he then asked if I wanted some coke, I also said no.

But Dublin city centre really is a bit of a Kip, no offense but esp the north side of it like o connell st , talbot st etc.

The south side of the city isn't much either just a slightly bit nicer and with less junkies floating about.

The_Captain

Billy86 wrote: »

From the article: A gap-toothed man with a beard approaches, asking for cash. Turned down, he offers the drinkers cocaine.

Excuse me a moment, my bullsh*t detector just exploded.

I know, pathetic. On-street dealing just doesn't really happen here like it does in US and Uk cities

RoboRat

Dublin has its problems but no more than any major capital city I have visited.

An online video surfaced this month of a man being repeatedly punched during the daytime on Henry Street, one of the two main shopping avenues in the city.

Heavens forbid, punched in the face, repeatedly during daylight hours. That doesn't happen anywhere else!

The junkies are an eyesore but I wouldn't call them a menace, most are so off their face or fcuked up they couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag.

The begging does piss me off but they only beg because its profitable, if people didn't give, there would be no reason to beg.

Potatoeman

You might not notice it but on Sundays when it quiet its far more noticable. Huestons luas stop seems to be mostly junkies, Abbey street and Talbot street are pretty bad too.

Silentcorner

It would be a huge help if people didn't isolate Dublin in this instance. Irish people engage in a kind of parochial snobbery that involves insulting each other or completely denying there are any issues. I don't see these people as the problem, I see these people as victims of a much wider malaise, involving a number of different arms of the state.

This is an Irish issue, it is at its most obvious in Dublin, I find it even more tragic that it is happening 1km from Dail Eireann, because this is a physical manifestation of a dysfunctional political system, which has never gotten to grips with governing a certain section of Irish society. If social problems are not dealt with in Dublin (where they will always manifest themselves first on account of the size of the city) they spread to all cities and towns, at different times. Equally if the judiciary and gardai managed to properly police Dublin, the rest of the country's cities and towns would be the much safer also.

Dayum

I've been to a lot of other capital cities and I can say that I find Dublin in the ha'penny place when it comes to crime.

Does it need a good scrub and a coat of paint - yes, but do I feel like I'm going to witness a drive-by shooting every time I walk down Westmoreland? Absolutely not.

To be honest, Dublin needs to be beautified. The roads in the inner city were not designed for the level of traffic going through it on a daily basis - they were built for the horse and cart. I'd privatise some streets in the city centre and let the businesses come to some arrangement that would work most efficiently - whether that would consist of pedestrianising a majority of them, who knows? But one thing is clear, they'd clean up; plant trees, and maybe someone would have the brilliant idea of connecting both LUAS lines.

conorhal

RoboRat wrote: »

Dublin has its problems but no more than any major capital city I have visited.



Heavens forbid, punched in the face, repeatedly during daylight hours. That doesn't happen anywhere else!

The junkies are an eyesore but I wouldn't call them a menace, most are so off their face or fcuked up they couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag.

The begging does piss me off but they only beg because its profitable, if people didn't give, there would be no reason to beg.

The begging is off the hook, which is no surprise, the article indicates a 30% increese in rough sleepers over the last year.
Junkies aren't generally a menace, but the don't really make you feel much warmth for the north side of the city either, the north and south sides are like the two pubs on my road, one is smart, freshly painted and has hanging baskets of flowers outside. The other is a shabby kip that always has a couple of depressed looking blokes wandering from the bar to the bookies or smoking outside.
I have never drunk in the second establishment. It's not that I'd be scared to walk through the door, but the general air of grotty despair would never incentivise me to do so. The northside is a bit like that,why would I spend money around Henry St or socialize there when across the river there's fresh paint and hanging baskets?
Unless the utterly useless Dublin CoCo come up with a coherent plan for the north inner city it's decline will continue.

super_furry

fedor.2. wrote: »

Sorry now, Dublin City centre is an absolute kip. It's like an episode of the walking dead, with all those junkies around, and that scummy,nasally and guttural accent is horrendous.

Someone from Cork complaining about a guttaral accent? :pac::pac::pac:

Billy86

The_Captain wrote: »

I know, pathetic. On-street dealing just doesn't really happen here like it does in US and Uk cities

I'm thinking more on two different lines:

1. Cocaine is an expensive substance, someone begging for money for cans wouldn't be able to afford it and definitely wouldn't be selling it.

2. If he was trying to sell "cocaine" then it would have been talcum powder or a bag of flour.

Which is why my detector couldn't handle the bullsh*t from both sides. :pac:

I am pie

Anyone who thinks Dublin is dangerous hasn't travelled much nor do they have much capacity for perspective.

Alternatively, they are from Cork.

BoJack Horseman

I am pie wrote: »

Anyone who thinks Dublin is dangerous hasn't travelled much nor do they have much capacity for perspective.

How many visited countries would you count as well travelled?

I'm wondering if my total allows me legitimate perspective on Dublin.

I am pie

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

How many visited countries would you count as well travelled?

I'm wondering if my total allows me legitimate perspective on Dublin.

We've checked our records and it's come back as a no.

Sorry, back to the airport with you.

BoJack Horseman

I am pie wrote: »

We've checked our records and it's come back as a no.

Sorry, back to the airport with you.

How much travel is required then?

You must know, otherwise why talk out your hole?

SEPT 23 1989

Until a judge,politician or a member of the elite golden circle is killed on the streets of Dublin nothing will be done

Grayson

WILL NEVER LOG OFF wrote: »

i've never been accosted in dublin.

to me, accosting suggests confrontation as opposed to some fella saying "any change luv?" or that british man on clarendon street saying "buy the big issue please"

now i'm not particularly intimidating-looking so although it definitely happens some people, I'm guessing confrontation is not quite a plague

i was in town shopping the other day and there were a few beggars who came up. When I said no there were some that persisted. Not for too long, but they still didn't take no the first time.

It gets worse in the evening. If you're standing outside the front of a bar there's ones that come up and ask for money. Some will also offer drugs. they do circuits of bars. I've spend a few nights outside the front of a city centre bar having a few drinks and smoking and the same beggar will comeback every 30 minutes or so. So the strange thing is that although there are many homeless and beggars in dublin, there aren't that many that do this circuit thing. But because there's a few doing the circuit you will be standing outside for 10 minutes and be asked for money a few times.

The Roma who beg are the worst. they'll keep asking until you give them money. If you don't they will actually start pushing you. Last year I was on dame street at about 1am, and one blocked my way. She kept stepping in front of me. I tried to pass her on the inside and when I did she pushed me up against a wall. Then she ran away. That's when I noticed my phone missing.