Garda inaction and our area descending into chaos

bmaxi · 19-10-2010 04:03PM

Chief--- wrote: »

Contact the Superintendent he is responsible for Garda resources.

Gardai in cars dont worry about resources, they just get into the car at the start of their shift and take calls from the radio, they go from call to call.

As the calls build up they form a queue, so sometimes you might be waiting anything from 1 minute to 6+hrs for them to arrive.

Its not like America where you might have 10+ cars patrolling a district. In Ireland its usually one.

That depends on where you live. I once drove the MD of my company to Leopardstown golf centre to collect something he'd lost. I parked at the junction of Westminster Road and Torquay Road and counted three Garda patrol cars in the twenty odd minutes I was waiting.
Of course, this is the other Ireland, there probably hadn't been a Garda car in Monkstown Farm for a week.

Nehaxak · 19-10-2010 04:38PM

There's plenty the Gardaí can do so don't be fobbed off. They can place JLO's on youths for a start as a bare minimum. Take pictures (without being seen) of the youths causing the trouble and provide them to the Gardaí. Note down the times the Gardaí do call and if they call to you in person, note their names as well if possible. Phone your local station and ask to speak to the community officers for your area (best to phone during the daytime) then request if they could call out to you to discuss matters and what can be done - the community Gardaí are usually very helpful and a lot more so than just the Gardaí that might be on different shifts as they're specifically tasked to deal with stuff like this and liaise directly with the community, that being yourself. You could ask that Garda to request of the different shift units to increase patrols in the area if possible and to pay particular attention to your house.

Besides that, take a deep breath, sit down and write as eloquently as you can the complete details of what is and has been going on, along with the lack of Garda response as you see it and email it off to Dermot Ahern personally. You will get a reply from him, it won't be immediate but you will get a reply from him personally or his office. At the very least he will order a Garda report be carried out and they'll take it from there. Do NOT just accept that, every second day phone his office yourself personally and request some feedback and help.

We are and have been going through absolute hell in Ballymun with the same crap you are, worse even, but it's only since the introduction of the massive amount of CCTV here that things seem to have taken a turn and abated a little. It's only youths between the ages of 12 and around 17 too, anyone older than that seems to have more sense or at least not be such a prick to other people, even drug dealers and so on here generally leave people alone and don't bother anyone. Probably because those under 18 think they can't be touched, which is not true, there's plenty that can be done to stop them within the law and with the help of the Gardaí.

In fairness though, the Gardaí here in Ballymun do their best and have been very responsive and forthcoming to help with the crap that goes on from gangs of youths, placing JLO's and further actions including criminal prosecutions of the most troublesome.
You don't need to go as a witness with any of this, just provide pictures of those carrying out the anti social behaviour to the Gardaí, preferably the community Garda, and let them take it from there, the Sargent can speak on your behalf if it needs to be taken to the special criminal court if it is as such (or of course) deemed to come under the new anti gang laws.

What I would suggest also is that you ask the community Garda to stay over in your house one evening for an hour or two and see first-hand for themselves what is going on, preferably picking an evening that this crap is going on the most, which will probably be a Friday or Saturday night, though it sounds like you're going through it most evenings.

Remember that the Gardaí are only human like yourself, they still have the same fears and all that but they can and do act, you just need to hopefully get a hold of a community Garda and hope that they're nice enough to listen and help you out.

Please do write to Dermot Ahern and ask for his help with the matter and if you want to, you can send me a copy via PM on here and I can take a look and amend or improve what you're intending to write then pass it back to you to send off yourself in an email to him. Or PM me with your email address and I'll send you an email so you can correspond with me that way. I don't mind helping at all, sounds like absolute shít you're having to put up with there and I'd be only too happy to help you out to word an email to request help. Not saying I'm an expert or anything but I know how to word the letters and who to write too and what we could also do is see can we get one (or more) of your local TD's and councillors to meet with you and discuss the matters, if possible also for them to bring it up if needed in the Dáil or just with the county manager meetings in DCC.
Through all of that, even if no direct outcome is forthcoming, what you're doing is making the issue political and putting political influence on the matter, to further the issue and persuade the Gardaí (if even needed) to take further decisive action to deal with the situation, it can actually also help them out as they get a chance to directly request further resources if needed, or at least to point out that they need them urgently to deal with matters like this in your area.

Let me know anyway via PM if I can help at all, only too happy to do so.

Nehaxak · 19-10-2010 04:52PM

bmaxi wrote: »

Of course, this is the other Ireland, there probably hadn't been a Garda car in Monkstown Farm for a week.

I'm originally from Monkstown Farm, spent a lot of my younger years growing up around the old flats in mounttown there, lovely place, loved the whole area and the people, very fond memories. Gardaí got an awful time there though in fairness, I remember one evening a special branch car was carrying out surveillance of someone or other, complete with armed detectives inside - a large gang of youths proceeded to walk over to the car, rock it back and forth and eventually turn it over on to it's roof, with the Gardaí still inside and who stayed inside, upside down, until support arrived :eek:

bmaxi · 19-10-2010 05:23PM

Nehaxak wrote: »

Remember that the Gardaí are only human like yourself, they still have the same fears and all that but they can and do act, you just need to hopefully get a hold of a community Garda and hope that they're nice enough to listen and help you out.

The op's point is that they didn't act. Surely, supposedly well educated people who volunteer to become members of AGS are aware of what the job entails. I'm not asking anybody to put their life on the line but it appears to me that too many supposed guardians of the peace are only too happy to cruise around in cars all day long until they draw their pension.
Like most of the public service the Gardaí are ill disciplined and badly governed, I doubt if many of them can even remember their basic training. In my local station one Garda weighs 20 stone if he weighs an ounce, lot of good he's going to be in a confrontation, we'd probably end up protecting him. He didn't get like that by pounding the beat or chasing gurriers.
Before I'm accused of Garda bashing, (it would seem that warranted criticism is "bashing"), probably a lot of Gardaí did have a more idealistic view when they joined and the system has drained that.
One other thing, at a risk of being labelled misogynistic, there are too many women in AGS, this IMO, is a hindrance to the force in dealing with crime.

Sir Oxman · 19-10-2010 05:25PM

Ahern is looking for the judiciary to not send little scumbags like the ones in the OP down cos there aren't enough jail spaces.
He wants community work orders given instead to the exact little shytes that can terrorise communities.

Zero tolerance, eh?

Nehaxak · 19-10-2010 05:33PM

bmaxi wrote: »

Like most of the public service the Gardaí are ill disciplined and badly governed

^^ This for sure but it's down to a lack of proper professional leadership shown to the rank and file members on a daily basis and a complete lack of accountability as there is STILL no independent ombudsman for complaints and the Gardaí are still a very secretive and politically influenced group, which they should not be. There are some fantastic Gardaí who go out of their way to help and do their job well, serve the people and all that, but there are bad apples in there that go unpunished and some of them are not rank and file on the beat Gardaí either.
One only has to look at the news today to see evidence of what you've said http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1019/garda.html maybe the little fecker deserved it, he probably really did, but you can't have our police force going around doing that and others covering up for them along with it.

AlekSmart · 19-10-2010 05:39PM

One only has to look at the news today to see evidence of what you've said http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1019/garda.html maybe the little fecker deserved it, he probably really did, but you can't have our police force going around doing that and others covering up for them along with it.

Nehaxak,you`re not far wrong about the somewhat odd "culture" that permeates through the Gardai,and it`s not something that`s improving either.

However,the case outlined is ongoing and remember is also being contested by the Gardai concerned....so perhaps it`s best wait for the verdict ?

Amalgam · 19-10-2010 05:45PM

pablo_escobar wrote: »

i would move out Utik, Gardai won't do anything until a corpse is put in front of them... even then they'll do very little.

..and even then, it'll quite likely be a charge of manslaughter. Very fashionable at the moment.

_DMac_ · 19-10-2010 06:00PM

bmaxi wrote: »

The op's point is that they didn't act. Surely, supposedly well educated people who volunteer to become members of AGS are aware of what the job entails. I'm not asking anybody to put their life on the line but it appears to me that too many supposed guardians of the peace are only too happy to cruise around in cars all day long until they draw their pension.
Like most of the public service the Gardaí are ill disciplined and badly governed, I doubt if many of them can even remember their basic training. In my local station one Garda weighs 20 stone if he weighs an ounce, lot of good he's going to be in a confrontation, we'd probably end up protecting him. He didn't get like that by pounding the beat or chasing gurriers.
Before I'm accused of Garda bashing, (it would seem that warranted criticism is "bashing"), probably a lot of Gardaí did have a more idealistic view when they joined and the system has drained that.
One other thing, at a risk of being labelled misogynistic, there are too many women in AGS, this IMO, is a hindrance to the force in dealing with crime.

the garda set up in this country is a joke. they are over policed by the ombudsman despite people thinking that they get away with murder all day everyday. the gardai are under resourced and under paid and with the set up in the guards they get into more hassle for doing work than not doing work. everyone thinks they make a fortune for doing nothing but that is far from the truth. the average guard is barely making ends meat if they are trying to pay off a mortgage, loans, bills etc. there is no incentive for guards to break their backs to help people and put themselves in harms way dealing with little sh!ts that know all they have to do is make uop some stupid complaint to the ombudsman and thats 1 guard screwed from doing anything productive until the complaint is dealt with. and this happens everyday. within the guards your GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT. how does that help with the averave scummer on the street gets every chance under to sun to get away with what ever he has done thanks to the irish legal system. i am kinda gone off point here but the guards aren't the ones who are totally responsible for this... (and no im not a guard before ye all start harping on about it

)

the parents of all these little toe rags have the most to answer for. some of you may be on this, most likely your not but who lets there kids out all nite, not knowing where they are or what they are doing and when they do something wrong the parents will automatically believe that little johnny had nothing to do with it.

as for the OP its a horrible situation to be in. but all the big cities are like this in Ireland. little rats getting away with murder because the courts are too lenient, there are too few guards and most importantly the parents don't give a sh!t anymore what their kids are up to... if i was at that craic when i was a young lad my dad would have knocked my block off and that would be the end of it. unfortunately if you live in an area with high crime things like gangs of kids hanging around are not going to be the most important calls to be dealt with despite that fact that it drives everyone mad having a load of trouble makes hanging around your house.your only advice is keep going to the guards and keep making the complaints. it will be followed up eventaully and make sure you produce the picture's and point out the people that are threatening you .. there has to be some law somewhere that threatening to kill someone is illegal. don't let your husband do the hammer thing anymore either. he could end up in court for injuring one of them or worse still it could be taken off him and he could be the one on the receiving end of it. keep going to the police and try your best to avoid confrontation with the scummers is your best course of action for the time being i reckon. best of luck with it.

deelite · 19-10-2010 06:06PM

I wonder could the army not come and help the gardai out - if they can keep the peace in Chad surely Ireland would be a picnic for them....

Nehaxak · 19-10-2010 06:08PM

opcowner2007 wrote: »

the garda set up in this country is a joke. they are over policed by the ombudsman despite people thinking that they get away with murder all day everyday.

Not true.

Can the Ombudsman examine all public bodies that deal with justice and equality?
No. The Ombudsman cannot examine complaints relating to:

the Equality Authority
the Equality Tribunal
the Garda Síochána
judges
the courts (including the courts service) and the public tribunals
the prison service
the probation service and
legal aid centres.

Taken from http://www.ombudsman.gov.ie/en/InformationLeaflets/TheOmbudsmanandtheDepartmentofJusticeEqualityandLawReform/Name,11080,en.htm

_DMac_ · 19-10-2010 06:11PM

Nehaxak wrote: »

Not true.

Taken from http://www.ombudsman.gov.ie/en/InformationLeaflets/TheOmbudsmanandtheDepartmentofJusticeEqualityandLawReform/Name,11080,en.htm

wrong ombudsman

What we do

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is an independent statutory body.
It was established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 which involved very significant legislative changes for policing in Ireland.
The Ombudsman Commission, under the Act, is required and empowered to:

Directly and independently investigate complaints against members of the Garda Síochána;
Investigate any matter, even where no complaint has been made, where it appears that a Garda may have committed an offence or behaved in a way that would justify disciplinary proceedings;
Investigate any practice, policy or procedure of the Garda Síochána with a view to reducing the incidence of related complaints.

http://www.gardaombudsman.ie/gsoc-garda-ombudsman-about-us.htm

starviewadams · 19-10-2010 06:16PM

We had this type of trouble in our old house which was on a corner where the youths would congregate.I used to hate coming home at the end of every day.Our windows were regularly bricked,stolen cars were burned out next to the house,and bloody syringes were forever being thrown over our garden wall.We were also shouted at and intimidated nearly every day for no reason.

We just tried to make as much noise as possible to the local TD's,councillors and Garda station and to the the local echo newspaper on a few ocassions due to the inaction of the local Gardai.We gave up ringing the local station aswell because the car would never come and just always rang 999 instead.Eventually ramps and CCTV which is monitored in the Garda station were installed and the area has calmed down a lot.

Nehaxak · 19-10-2010 06:18PM

opcowner2007 wrote: »

wrong ombudsman

What we do

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is an independent statutory body.
It was established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 which involved very significant legislative changes for policing in Ireland.
The Ombudsman Commission, under the Act, is required and empowered to:
Directly and independently investigate complaints against members of the Garda Síochána;

Investigate any matter, even where no complaint has been made, where it appears that a Garda may have committed an offence or behaved in a way that would justify disciplinary proceedings;

Investigate any practice, policy or procedure of the Garda Síochána with a view to reducing the incidence of related complaints.

http://www.gardaombudsman.ie/gsoc-garda-ombudsman-about-us.htm

Ah that one, right well that's not independent or transparent at all and not to be taken seriously in any way whatsoever. It's run by Gardaí, managed by Gardaí and everything investigated is done by Gardaí - cringe worthy stuff.
It would be like the bankers and developers who destroyed our economy coming together with the government and inventing some new body to help take over their bad debts and calling it something mad like NAMA

_DMac_ · 19-10-2010 06:21PM

Nehaxak wrote: »

Ah that one, right well that's not independent or transparent at all and not to be taken seriously in any way whatsoever. It's run by Gardaí, managed by Gardaí and everything investigated is done by Gardaí - cringe worthy stuff.
It would be like the bankers and developers who destroyed our economy coming together with the government and inventing some new body to help take over their bad debts and calling it something mad like NAMA

it has some involventment by higher ups in the gardai i think but from what i remember their head man is from south africa or somewhere. and most of the heads in the garda ombudsman are from outside ireland....

good call on the NAMA thing though

Nehaxak · 19-10-2010 06:27PM

opcowner2007 wrote: »

it has some involventment by higher ups in the gardai i think but from what i remember their head man is from south africa or somewhere. and most of the heads in the garda ombudsman are from outside ireland....

good call on the NAMA thing though

We'd be better off with a fully, totally independent ombudsman with no Garda or political influence whatsoever in any way, shape or form. We as in the ordinary person and the Gardaí themselves. An open, transparent, disciplined and professional police force - which for the most part the rank and file Gardaí are, unfortunately political influence dictates they as a police force, remain secretive and immune to fully independent oversights and transparencies. For a neutral country as Ireland is, I find that worrying to say the least.

JonathanAnon · 19-10-2010 06:29PM

I dont see much point in staying in that area just because civil rights should dictate that you could live wherever you want".... civil rights only work for scumbags being arrested/defended in court... never for the people who need them...

You need to protect yourself and your husband... By staying where you are, you are keeping yourself in the firing line as things continue to escalate... You have seen from first hand experience that the Gardaí are of no use to you, but if you're husband had hit one of the lads (with the hammer) they would be down on him like a ton of bricks... And this would be a worry, considering that he already (probably legitimately at this stage) lost it at least once.. The last thing you would want to happen is for him to get banged up for hitting one of them...

It may not be seen as the bravest thing to do, or what's morally "the right thing" that should happen, but the safest thing to do is to move.

galwaystudent · 19-10-2010 06:57PM

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I dont see much point in staying in that area just because civil rights should dictate that you could live wherever you want".... civil rights only work for scumbags being arrested/defended in court... never for the people who need them...

You need to protect yourself and your husband... By staying where you are, you are keeping yourself in the firing line as things continue to escalate... You have seen from first hand experience that the Gardaí are of no use to you, but if you're husband had hit one of the lads (with the hammer) they would be down on him like a ton of bricks... And this would be a worry, considering that he already (probably legitimately at this stage) lost it at least once.. The last thing you would want to happen is for him to get banged up for hitting one of them...

It may not be seen as the bravest thing to do, or what's morally "the right thing" that should happen, but the safest thing to do is to move.

She said they own their house there. In this economic climate and with all the scumbags in the estate it will be nigh on impossible for them to sell so they are stuck there. The gardai would like nothing more than to see these knacks doing time but they know there is no chance of that with the ultra lenient court system in this country.

Anyway, I know you are pissed at the gardai OP but in fairness the system is rotten from the top down and the gardai take the least blame imo. If the gardai thought they could get these scumbags locked up they would be arresting them left, right and centre. The problem is, for the kind of harrassment and abuse they are causing they will get zero punishment from the courts (until they kill or cause serious injury) - they know it and the cops know it. There is no deterrent out there to stop these knackers from engaging in this behaviour.

Lets see, you call the cops, they arrive down 10 mins later and tell the scum to piss of...the gardai will get serious verbal abuse off these knacks and as soon as the gardai leave the knacks will be back in the area doing the same crap again....so from the gardai's point of view, whats the point? Its the judges, politicians and the justice that are the root of this problem. The gardai would like nothing more than to see these knacks doing time but they know there is zero chance of that happening with the ultra lenient 'justice' system in this country.

AlekSmart · 19-10-2010 08:17PM

I remember reading some newspaper article of former Minister for Justice,Michael McDowell,in which he mused that the Irish people would not be happy with a French Style paramilitarized Gendarmerie.

The plain people of Ireland, said Mr Mc D,admired and supported their Civic Guards and would be slow to support a "tougher approach to law enforcement".

I`d be prepared to debate that point with Mick McD,particularly if the debate was held on board a Luas Red Line tram between James`s and Kylemore or at any of the stops in between after dark.

Right now I would not have a Garda`s job for all the tea in China,as even the committed ones now see it as little more than finger-in-the dyke policing.

The current arrangements regarding juvenile criminality,even serious stuff,relies on the JLS as a magic-pill which will ensure the young reprobate is gently put-right without a stain on his/her character etc etc....:rolleyes:

I`m not so sure that this approach has worked/is working in any genuinely preventative way.
From what I can glean,It`s rather more widely seen as a means of facilitating a silly young twit into becoming a really dangerous older twit without having to worry about learning how to spell the word Punishment..or the definition of it.

Punishment is a word,in modern Irish parlance,which is universally regarded as dirty..a throwback to the dreadful days of Colonial Rule etc.

bmaxi · 19-10-2010 08:50PM

opcowner2007 wrote: »

the garda set up in this country is a joke. they are over policed by the ombudsman despite people thinking that they get away with murder all day everyday. the gardai are under resourced and under paid and with the set up in the guards they get into more hassle for doing work than not doing work. everyone thinks they make a fortune for doing nothing but that is far from the truth. the average guard is barely making ends meat if they are trying to pay off a mortgage, loans, bills etc. there is no incentive for guards to break their backs to help people and put themselves in harms way dealing with little sh!ts that know all they have to do is make uop some stupid complaint to the ombudsman and thats 1 guard screwed from doing anything productive until the complaint is dealt with. and this happens everyday. within the guards your GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT. how does that help with the averave scummer on the street gets every chance under to sun to get away with what ever he has done thanks to the irish legal system. i am kinda gone off point here but the guards aren't the ones who are totally responsible for this... (and no im not a guard before ye all start harping on about it )

the parents of all these little toe rags have the most to answer for. some of you may be on this, most likely your not but who lets there kids out all nite, not knowing where they are or what they are doing and when they do something wrong the parents will automatically believe that little johnny had nothing to do with it.

as for the OP its a horrible situation to be in. but all the big cities are like this in Ireland. little rats getting away with murder because the courts are too lenient, there are too few guards and most importantly the parents don't give a sh!t anymore what their kids are up to... if i was at that craic when i was a young lad my dad would have knocked my block off and that would be the end of it. unfortunately if you live in an area with high crime things like gangs of kids hanging around are not going to be the most important calls to be dealt with despite that fact that it drives everyone mad having a load of trouble makes hanging around your house.your only advice is keep going to the guards and keep making the complaints. it will be followed up eventaully and make sure you produce the picture's and point out the people that are threatening you .. there has to be some law somewhere that threatening to kill someone is illegal. don't let your husband do the hammer thing anymore either. he could end up in court for injuring one of them or worse still it could be taken off him and he could be the one on the receiving end of it. keep going to the police and try your best to avoid confrontation with the scummers is your best course of action for the time being i reckon. best of luck with it.

You'll get no argument from me on what punishment should be meted out to the gougers who are causing so much hardship to the OP and many others in the country.
The argument you will get is that the Gardaí are selective in which areas, geographical and otherwise, they enforce the law. I can guarantee there are no aresholes congregating around Dermot Ahern's house throwing stones and hurling abuse, the same will apply to the homes of the superintendents in charge of Kilmainham and Crumlin Garda stations, one of which, I would assume, covers the OP's area.
The captains of industry and the bank executives who have spent the last ten tears bleeding the country dry will, you'll be pleased to know, sleep snugly and safely in their beds protected by the police force they do everything in the power of their accountants to avoid paying for, but Joe Soap, fcuk him.

Zambia · 20-10-2010 12:37AM

Its a bit unfair to the gardai to claim they under resource some areas in favour of others. From what I can gather the cutbacks effected the Gardai.

The Gardai cover the whole country and from what I gather have in most cases a car per district. Now if your district creates 5 Jobs per hour then the district car is always running behind. Plus the district car does not want to take someone into custody unless absoultely necessary. Because that takes them off the road. Then you have no cars and the backlog gets even longer.

Compared to a more affluent area where the calls are fewer then the district car gets to drive around and respond instantly. Giving the illusion of greater cover.

The gardai have to cover the whole country they cant decide that Area A needs Area B's car and lets just leave Area B unattended. Despite the fact cars will support each other overlapping areas.

However if there are no cars avialible well then there are no cars/police.

Area B while having low ASBO crime still has fatal accidents , Fires , Traffic offences , Domestics etc.

I have yet to meet one Policeman in Ireland or here who did not want to tackle criminals.

The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
Robert Peel

amacachi · 20-10-2010 12:43AM

Zambia232 wrote: »

I have yet to meet one Policeman in Ireland or here who did not want to tackle criminals.

I look forward to meeting one.

Utik · 20-10-2010 02:50AM

Once again. Thanks to all of you who have posted here and for the suggestions.

For Southsiderosie, Chief and Starviewadams: we have done all of your suggestions.
We actually put a handy cam in front of bedroom windows, up stair. We recorded most of the incidents. I remember one of the police told my husband that he can not take video in a public area. He advised him to stop doing so, or he will end up in trouble. So their attitude is that it is alright for thugs to systematically destroy your neighbourhood, we wont do a thing about it, but you cant even have the privilege of videoing your house or car being dismantled. This is despite video from the same camera being used by the police several times over the past couple of years in relation mainly to parked cars being broken into or otherwise vandalised. Also, my husband has always been more than willing to give statements in relation to these events, and more than willing to go to court if needed whether the perpetrators identify him or not. These events involved cars which were parked by other members of the public and not residents. It seems when damage is done to residents' cars or other property, there is a whole different standard applied than if the car is owned by a visitor to the area. We have been told such things as 'you cant make a complaint concerning damage to a neighbours property (such as when they are not in), or even better, when we had video of two thugs outside throwing stones at our windows, 'they cant be charged because there is no independent witness!'

My husband asked about CCTV more than once in the past, and the suggestion was treated with derision on the first occasion and downright humour on the second.
One day, I had to argue with a guard on the phone as he accused me of calling the local station 20 times in one day. It was not true of course (the proof being on my mobile bill), I told him that it wouldnt be necessary for me to make call more that once if they able to solve the problem in the first place.
In relation to the intimidation, I told the police that we will provide the statement and the evidence, but I have not seen light nor sign of a guard since. This is in stark contrast to something which happened last week to two people who dont actually live on the road.
Like I have said previously, we already tried to contact the superintendent and community guard more than twice but nothing happen since.

To quote Galway student opinion, that the root of the justice system in Ireland is laid from the top (the judges and politicians), it will be great if the judges and/or the politicians share our unpleasant experiences. I believe their opinion about those will change straight away.

Nehaxak as far as JLO is concerned, we have the pictures, video and generally know what roads these youths are from. But to the best of our knowledge, in the six weeks since this all flared up the Gardai have not stopped and even taken names once! The older group that harassed me has not yet come face to face with a squad car yet.

But we are seriously interested in considering your suggestion about writing to Dermot Ahern. Its either that or making a formal complaint somewhere over the local district level. Were very grateful for your offer of help and may very well take you up on that. Thanks.

Today most of the action was in daylight hours immediately after school was over. Some still in their uniforms. After the hour long firework display, we were treated to what those in normal civil society who regard these types as sub-human would be an appropriate validation of such an opinion. The aforementioned roadside pole was lined up with a house down the road in an attempt to make some kind of artillery piece. But after several attempts - fortunately their collective intelligence (all dozen or so of them) couldnt figure out that a gun barrel needs to be blocked at one end to work. The disappointment on their faces was just tragic. Just for once it was almost funny.

Pyridine · 20-10-2010 08:29AM

Not that I'm advocating this but I've heard if you ring anonymously and mention that some scumbags might have firearms you get a better response time from the gards.

Not that you should do it, it's just something to keep in mind!

Nehaxak · 20-10-2010 09:58AM

Utik wrote: »

But we are seriously interested in considering your suggestion about writing to Dermot Ahern. Its either that or making a formal complaint somewhere over the local district level. Were very grateful for your offer of help and may very well take you up on that. Thanks.

Yep no problem, more than happy to help out. Sounds like you're having an awful time there and the local Gardaí are not being very helpful at all.

In the meantime, gather as much evidence you can yourself via video/photographs but don't put yourselves in any danger. Do it as covertly as possible. Make sure to note the date and times on any photographs/video and file it away safely and make copies of everything.

If the youths are in their uniforms, you can also approach their school principal and ask for some help. You'll find they're usually very open to stopping this kind of carry-on themselves, especially when it's being done by students wearing their schools' uniform. At the very least they can contact the parents (ask for this) to reign their kids behaviour into check without naming you personally.

sfakiaman · 20-10-2010 10:25AM

Forget about writing to Dermot Aherne, he and his cronies at the top of AGS have a vested interest in keeping a high crime rate (no crime, no job). Better to write to Pat Rabbite (Lab) and Charlie Flanagan (FG) who will at least bring it up in the Daíl. Everything Aherne has done is a joke, remember his idea of taxing ATM's to stop tiger kidnappings:mad:.

Nehaxak · 20-10-2010 11:18AM

There's no harm in writing to them anyway, or anyone else, but there's little they can do other than huff and moan about it - they're not in power, Ahern is and if he tells the Gardaí to act, they have to obey.
You write to him, you bring it to his office's attention and then you continue on writing to others to get their help also and you don't stop until they act to deal with.

You elected your government ministers/TD's and your county councillors, people should use them and get them to work for you and your community, that's what they're there for.
I wouldn't leave it just to Dermot Ahern, hell no, I'd be writing to every one of them, the more of an issue you make of it politically, the more of a chance you'll have of getting the issues resolved.

Utik, find out the times and locations of your local elected TD clinics and go down personally yourself to bring the issues up with them, all of them. Don't stop and don't give up. You have a right to live in your home in peace without harassment, intimidation, violence and so on - the Gardaí can sort it out and they have to sort it out, whether they want to or not.

_Kaiser_ · 20-10-2010 11:43AM

southsiderosie wrote: »

Have you and your neighbors started videotaping? It doesn't have to be obvious, but from an upstairs window or something. Tape what is going on outside, when you call the guards, what you say, and call every 15 minutes until they show up. Sometimes naming and shaming is the only way to get attention.

Doesn't work...

My mother has (for the past 20+ years) had problems like this in the estate she lives in. Despite thousands of hours of video footage (it even made a Prime Time special a few years back), complaints and statements, nothing has ever been done - hell the local Gardai (when they bothered to turn up) have threatened, intimidated and laughed about the situation - all on camera I might add! The council have equally been of no help, despite it ultimately being their responsibility to control their tenants.

I think another poster has it right.. as with everything else in this country, it all depends on who you know! :mad:

gurramok · 20-10-2010 12:38PM

I wonder what are the views of AGS here on boards of the situation Utik. There is a forum where they reside as it sounds like in your district that they a bunch of tossers.

Regarding CCTV, there is no law against videoing attacks on your property. The following statement is hilarious "I remember one of the police told my husband that he can not take video in a public area". If that was the case, goodbye YouTube!(and public service programming!)

As you're stuck there, the only solution is to wait till for those teenagers to get old and bored and move onto something bigger in the crime chain where they'll either die or end up in jail.
Maybe perhaps show the footage to the newspapers in order to expose Garda laziness?

Remember when all the trouble in Moyross, Limerick way back in 2000, a local councillor had to beg on TV to ask for a Garda presence in his area to combat thuggery. And we all know how that area ended up through the years.

TheDoc · 20-10-2010 02:53PM

I think its a sad state of affairs when the majority of advice here is

"move".

You are paying your way in this country with taxes and rent or whatever and shouldnt have to put up with that ****e.

If the Guards arnt being co-operative, I can assure you a national paper and RTE will definitly take an interest.

Although it wont solve your problem, there is nothing worse for the Gaurds/Government then bad press and I'm sure you will find, inadvertadly, the situation being cleaned up.

You know its only a matter of time before dirt and filth finds its way into nicer areas, and the stance very much has been for a long time " sure just move".

Thats not the case anymore, moving isnt an option for most. Why should I have to take a massive hit and los son my property so I could move away from some nackers. I know what I'd do, but its not the same as what you would want to do.

If your local Guards arnt being any use, you have a local TD who is always swetting for a chance to get his name out there. Get in touch and stir the ****.

Garda inaction and our area descending into chaos

Comments