Your experiences of Anti Social Behaviour in Estates

20-10-2018 12:06AM #1

A recent thread on Darndale got me thinking about this.

I was wondering if m/any people on boards have direct experience of this kind of 'lifestyle' (living in an estate that fits the typical 'council estate' stereotype).

For clarity: I live in a CoCo (County Council) estate, as does my brother. Two different estates, about a 3 minute walk, door-to-door. Whilst my street is plagued with anti social issues, in his street; you'd hear a pin drop. So I'm not tarring all with the same brush (although I am openly annoyed that I ended up in the worst of the bunch).

I've been onto the CoCo for a while to attempt to address the issues in the area with limited success as the CoCo simply have little interest in doing anything in general. Although after a lengthy battle or two they'll eventually cave and listen.

I am aware that Darndale, Finglas, Tallaght, etc. are areas in Dublin with similar issues (and these are likely the places that most here will know as most boardsies seem to be Dublin-based).

I'm wondering if people who have lived in these areas have seen the areas improve or worsen over the years? If CoCo's ever did anything of note in the areas that made the place better or worse?

Things I've noticed over the years were the CoCo finding one of the quieter green areas, that didn't have much/any issues, and sticking a random playground on it. Which immediately resulted in every scummer in a 10km radius hanging out at it. I think the playground was damaged/burned/destroyed and removed within 3 weeks of it being installed.

On the other hand, there's a green area that suffers a fair bit of anti social behaviour, as it has walls, steps, paths etc. that the scummers used to sit on and hang out at. The CoCo came in and removed anything that could possibly resemble a seat, and that particular green area has been much much quieter ever since.

Wondering if anyone else has ever seen this or has ever worked for a CoCo Housing unit or the likes?

My job takes me across almost every county in the Republic, and i've noticed that a lot of estates seem to be getting worse with regards to anti social behaviour. I'm seeing nice, clean estates, that have random graffiti, littering etc. And was chatting to a chap that lives in an estate in.. I want to say Longford.. but i cant recall where exatly.. recently that said the area is grand and quiet, but a few families moved in recently and ever since halloween started, kids have been throwing fireworks at his house, in his letterbox, trying to set fire to his flowers/hedges etc. whereas he never had such issues in the past.
(I believe he was in a private estate, that never got finished, but the CoCo bought the half-finished units, and that housing brought in a few rough characters).

What are your experiences of anti social behaviour? Is it as widespread as it seems, or am I just having bad luck in the people/places I'm encountering?

n!ghtmancometh · 20-10-2018 12:34AM

I lived in a corner house in a council estate in Tallaght until I was 12. There would be multiple stolen cars joyridden around the estate most nights, concentrating on doing handbrake turns at our corner, the screeching noise terrifying my little sister, and demolishing our garden wall twice in the process. The cars would eventually be burnt out, but on one occasion one was rammed into the (closed) chipper at the local shops and set on fire, as punishment for the relatively new owner who would call the guards on the scumbags hanging around outside his business, drinking, selling drugs and generally harassing his customers. Cars would also sometimes be rammed into the primary school gates or wall and burnt either. I remember the school itself being broken into and badly vandalised on a few occasions, and having to have class in the PE hall while the classrooms were cleaned.

Myself and my younger sister were raised by my Mam alone, and the scum in the estate knew she was alone so would knick knack, shout through the letter box late at night, egg, and throw rocks through the front windows. We had to stuff the letter box with towels and duct tape at Halloween as they would attempt to put bangers and fireworks through it also. Vividly remember one of the glass panels of the hall door being kicked in at about 7:30pm on a winters evening about a week after my baby sister was born and brought home, and my mam looking crestfallen, and the fat culchie guard who eventually arrived looking very disinterested. House was broken into once only when I was 10, probably as they saw we had feck all worth robbing.

Was also a lad bet up on our front doorstep by lads in balaclavas, I was too young to understand what was going on, just remember him screaming, the door being kicked by the lads kicking him, and him begging to be let in. Thinking back now, it was one of the junkie neighbours getting a hiding for owing money I'd say. Used to find dirty syringes in the back garden the odd time when it was grass cutting time and you'd have to look through the garden to make sure no stones or rubbish would damage the mower. The council gave us a little yellow bin and those litter pickers though to get rid of them, which was nice of them. We moved about 15 mins away to Clondalkin just as I started secondary school, and it was strange and a huge relief to be somewhere so peaceful in comparison!

The old estate is a good bit quieter now, and has ramps and Garda CCTV cameras. Plus, most of the scum from my youth are either dead (know for a fact at least 4 of the main ones are, 2 died in a stolen car crash when they were drunk and the other 2 od'd) or in jail.

CinemaGuy45 · 20-10-2018 12:36AM

:(

pleas advice · 20-10-2018 12:38AM

release the hounds

Qrt · 20-10-2018 12:46AM

n!ghtmancometh wrote: »

I lived in a corner house in a council estate in Tallaght until I was 12. There would be multiple stolen cars joyridden around the estate most nights, concentrating on doing handbrake turns at our corner, the screeching noise terrifying my little sister, and demolishing our garden wall twice in the process. The cars would eventually be burnt out, but on one occasion one was rammed into the (closed) chipper at the local shops and set on fire, as punishment for the relatively new owner who would call the guards on the scumbags hanging around outside his business, drinking, selling drugs and generally harassing his customers. Cars would also sometimes be rammed into the primary school gates or wall and burnt either. I remember the school itself being broken into and badly vandalised on a few occasions, and having to have class in the PE hall while the classrooms were cleaned.

Myself and my younger sister were raised by my Mam alone, and the scum in the estate knew she was alone so would knick knack, shout through the letter box late at night, egg, and throw rocks through the front windows. We had to stuff the letter box with towels and duct tape at Halloween as they would attempt to put bangers and fireworks through it also. Vividly remember one of the glass panels of the hall door being kicked in at about 7:30pm on a winters evening about a week after my baby sister was born and brought home, and my mam looking crestfallen, and the fat culchie guard who eventually arrived looking very disinterested. House was broken into once only when I was 10, probably as they saw we had feck all worth robbing.

Was also a lad bet up on our front doorstep by lads in balaclavas, I was too young to understand what was going on, just remember him screaming, the door being kicked by the lads kicking him, and him begging to be let in. Thinking back now, it was one of the junkie neighbours getting a hiding for owing money I'd say. Used to find dirty syringes in the back garden the odd time when it was grass cutting time and you'd have to look through the garden to make sure no stones or rubbish would damage the mower. The council gave us a little yellow bin and those litter pickers though to get rid of them, which was nice of them. We moved about 15 mins away to Clondalkin just as I started secondary school, and it was strange and a huge relief to be somewhere so peaceful in comparison!

The old estate is a good bit quieter now, and has ramps and Garda CCTV cameras. Plus, most of the scum from my youth are either dead (know for a fact at least 4 of the main ones are, 2 died in a stolen car crash when they were drunk and the other 2 od'd) or in jail.

Tallaght-head here, and it seems to sum up 90s West Tallaght. I'm still growing up here really and it's nowhere near that bad anymore, apart from one or two roads in Brookview or Rossfield

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 20-10-2018 12:56AM

Nope never really frequented social housing estates much

Edited to say that sounded much ruder than I intended
I grew up in the suburbs of town, none of my friends lived in estates and I never really encountered much drama where I grew up

Samuel T. Cogley · 20-10-2018 12:59AM

Jillian Tangy Female wrote: »

Nope never really frequented social housing estates much

:rolleyes:

Kevin Finnerty · 20-10-2018 12:59AM

n!ghtmancometh wrote: »

I lived in a corner house in a council estate in Tallaght until I was 12. There would be multiple stolen cars joyridden around the estate most nights, concentrating on doing handbrake turns at our corner, the screeching noise terrifying my little sister, and demolishing our garden wall twice in the process. The cars would eventually be burnt out, but on one occasion one was rammed into the (closed) chipper at the local shops and set on fire, as punishment for the relatively new owner who would call the guards on the scumbags hanging around outside his business, drinking, selling drugs and generally harassing his customers. Cars would also sometimes be rammed into the primary school gates or wall and burnt either. I remember the school itself being broken into and badly vandalised on a few occasions, and having to have class in the PE hall while the classrooms were cleaned.

Myself and my younger sister were raised by my Mam alone, and the scum in the estate knew she was alone so would knick knack, shout through the letter box late at night, egg, and throw rocks through the front windows. We had to stuff the letter box with towels and duct tape at Halloween as they would attempt to put bangers and fireworks through it also. Vividly remember one of the glass panels of the hall door being kicked in at about 7:30pm on a winters evening about a week after my baby sister was born and brought home, and my mam looking crestfallen, and the fat culchie guard who eventually arrived looking very disinterested. House was broken into once only when I was 10, probably as they saw we had feck all worth robbing.

Was also a lad bet up on our front doorstep by lads in balaclavas, I was too young to understand what was going on, just remember him screaming, the door being kicked by the lads kicking him, and him begging to be let in. Thinking back now, it was one of the junkie neighbours getting a hiding for owing money I'd say. Used to find dirty syringes in the back garden the odd time when it was grass cutting time and you'd have to look through the garden to make sure no stones or rubbish would damage the mower. The council gave us a little yellow bin and those litter pickers though to get rid of them, which was nice of them. We moved about 15 mins away to Clondalkin just as I started secondary school, and it was strange and a huge relief to be somewhere so peaceful in comparison!

The old estate is a good bit quieter now, and has ramps and Garda CCTV cameras. Plus, most of the scum from my youth are either dead (know for a fact at least 4 of the main ones are, 2 died in a stolen car crash when they were drunk and the other 2 od'd) or in jail.

That's tough, great post. To come through that and express it so precisely, I wouldn't be able to.

Hope you didn't do their funerals.

Richard Hillman · 20-10-2018 01:00AM

Most nights. One of the session moths goes around with one of those wheelie speakers, so you hear the local scum floating around most nights.

Generally it's stolen mopeds, fires on the football pitches, smashing bottles, beating up Spanish students. My area went downhill massively when we stopped exporting our scum to Ballyogan. Unfortunately there were only so many council houses up there

Samuel T. Cogley · 20-10-2018 01:03AM

I live in Kilbarrack, most of the estate I'm on is now privately owned with a few social tenants around the place. I'd have no issues wandering around the place right now and it's as quiet as a mouse. The policy of a thin spread is definately a good one.

20-10-2018 01:08AM

Fairly mild but I was in my aunts once & a neighbor of hers who’s by all accounts an awful bollox took it upon himself to falsely accuse myself and my two cousins of calling him a prick. We were kids and she was pissed. Stressed out one of my cousins so much he had an asthma attack.

None of us called him a prick as I said, but he fcuking was one.

zapitastas · 20-10-2018 01:08AM

I think these days Dublin corporation seem to pack up the worst offenders and move them out of the county altogether. Some of the towns in meath, louth and Cavan seem to benefit from the transfer. Is just what a lot of these towns need, revitalisation by dumping the dregs of society into them

20-10-2018 01:15AM

zapitastas wrote: »

I think these days Dublin corporation seem to pack up the worst offenders and move them out of the county altogether. Some of the towns in meath, louth and Cavan seem to benefit from the transfer. Is just what a lot of these towns need, revitalisation by dumping the dregs of society into them

I have noticed this, also. One thing I have noted about it is that the areas they get moved to, they still maintain their way of life.

Unfortunately, many times the areas they get moved to simply don't have the Garda or Council resources to properly deal with them. They become an infection on the area and begin to attract similar people from other areas (or visitors from Dublin). Before you know it, two have turned to three, to four, etc. and you now have a growing group of anti-social elements congregating in an area that can't police them.

zapitastas · 20-10-2018 01:25AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I have noticed this, also. One thing I have noted about it is that the areas they get moved to, they still maintain their way of life.

Unfortunately, many times the areas they get moved to simply don't have the Garda or Council resources to properly deal with them. They become an infection on the area and begin to attract similar people from other areas (or visitors from Dublin). Before you know it, two have turned to three, to four, etc. and you now have a growing group of anti-social elements congregating in an area that can't police them.

There is the resettlement of troublemakers and then also the movement of serious criminals into towns where there is literally no Garda presence. There was a town about and hour and a quarter from dubin that at one time had a collection of some of the biggest criminals in the state and no Gardai stationed in the town. How a situation like that can develop is insane. You would assume there was heavy Garda surveillance but there were still people going missing and being killed

El_Bee · 20-10-2018 02:46PM

What is the resistance to a curfew for u18's? Kids 10-12 are out till after 10 most nights now, don't understand how that's still athing.

Samuel T. Cogley · 20-10-2018 02:47PM

El_Bee wrote: »

What is the resistance to a curfew for u18's? Kids 10-12 are out till after 10 most nights now, don't understand how that's still athing.

Their parents.

Mint Sauce · 20-10-2018 03:04PM

Define anti social behavour in Estates. Not sure how different it is/was in London, but I was bought up in an ex council house on a estate. A few green areas, a fenced play area, rthat had more houses built on it, with every other concrete area having council installed signs, with usual No Ball Games, no noise, no skate boarding. etc, etc.

We weren't bad lads, we did hang around the different areas, either playing football, rollerblading, or just hanging around. Never got in trouble, but did have the wardens called after us a few times, just told to move on. When we asked move where, you built over the one area we had, all they could do was shrug their shoulders and agree with us. Achknowledged we were not causing trouble, but council tenents will ring the council over anything, so best to put up and shut up.

Looking back it seemed the council did play apart, by not providing areas for kids, so of course even the best behaved had no where to go, and ended up disturbing the neighbours as well.

The Crowman · 20-10-2018 03:08PM

zapitastas wrote: »

I think these days Dublin corporation seem to pack up the worst offenders and move them out of the county altogether. Some of the towns in meath, louth and Cavan seem to benefit from the transfer. Is just what a lot of these towns need, revitalisation by dumping the dregs of society into them

How is it that Dublin based County Councils can move their tenants to another County?

stateofflux · 20-10-2018 03:22PM

I used to go to visit friends house in Kilinarden in Tallaght bout 8 years ago. Was a leather wearing rocker at the time. Remember getting stopped and encircled by a bunch of locals on entering the estate.

Luckily when i mentioned my mates name they backed off . Area seemed very territorial ...understandably

I was given a full show that saturday evening of joyriding skills and pyromaniac excess.

klaaaz · 20-10-2018 04:36PM

The councils have a huge responsibility on this issue, there is no severe reprimand for bad families. When you hear of an eviction, the council usually moves the bad families to another area to destroy when in fact those bad families should be made homeless to act as a deterrent. The result is that most people do not want social housing in their area, can you blame them?

20-10-2018 04:40PM

The Crowman wrote: »

How is it that Dublin based County Councils can move their tenants to another County?

Use the magic of telephones to contact another district?

biko · 20-10-2018 05:10PM

I wonder will all examples be from Dublin and surrounds, the ASB capital of Ireland..

Samuel T. Cogley · 20-10-2018 05:14PM

biko wrote: »

I wonder will all examples be from Dublin and surrounds, the ASB capital of Ireland..

****ty areas all over Ireland just less people talking about them, due tho there being alot less people in those 'cities'.

Gimme A Pound · 20-10-2018 05:23PM

Some horrific experiences recounted here.

The thugs in question can coast through life with virtual impunity (they don't care about prison - badge of honour, and usually a short sentence, if any) while their neighbours are living in hell. This is why vigilante groups form. And I don't blame them.

Samuel T. Cogley · 20-10-2018 05:28PM

Zayne Flat Rally wrote: »

This is why vigilante groups form.

Far too infrequently.

LimeFruitGum · 20-10-2018 05:41PM

I lived in a private estate off the North Circular road from 2000-2006. Our estate was very nice, but we were surrounded by feral scum.
One of my flatmates was a teacher down in Stanhope St, and as soon as the kids knew where Miss lived, we had all sorts of crap. We were the corner house on the first row, so they didn’t have to wander in too far. Knick-knacking would be the least of your worries. They would bang on the kitchen window, jump on the bonnet of the car, stuff all sorts of things in to the letterbox, snowballs with stones or dogsh1t in them. We would chase them off and then the novelty wore off after a while, but still... utterly fearless & brazen kids, you know?
Didn’t matter that we had coded gates and security cameras, the little feckers would tailgate after a car or climb over the railings. Gardai, the TD, and the estate management were beyond useless. It was like “well, you live here, what did you expect?”.

El_Bee · 20-10-2018 07:14PM

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Define anti social behavour in Estates.

Imagine going to your window and seeing a group of at least 15 but sometimes as many as 30 kids outside your garden, screaming and shouting, some actually in your garden, what would you do?

Wheeliebin30 · 20-10-2018 07:21PM

It’s the gubberments fault.

Samuel T. Cogley · 20-10-2018 07:26PM

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

It’s the gubberments fault.

It is - social housing estates were a bad idea to begin with. This idiotic policy of up to 30% of some estates being social housing is as equally misguided. It should be 10% max with complaints very quickly followed up on and people moved to shipping containers who cause trouble.

Austria! · 20-10-2018 07:30PM

Is anti social behaviour increasing, and what solutions are there?

Wheeliebin30 · 20-10-2018 07:33PM

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

It is - social housing estates were a bad idea to begin with. This idiotic policy of up to 30% of some estates being social housing is as equally misguided. It should be 10% max with complaints very quickly followed up on and people moved to shipping containers who cause trouble.

Please explain how it’s the governments fault when morons can’t behave themselves in the natural world like normal people?

So because these animals weren’t put in with normal people it’s not their fault they end up as criminals.

Spare me.....

Your experiences of Anti Social Behaviour in Estates

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