{"id":77375,"date":"2025-10-13T09:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T09:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/77375\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T09:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T09:03:07","slug":"antisocial-behaviour-is-better-than-it-was-but-not-resolved-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/77375\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Antisocial behaviour is better than it was, but not resolved\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">On a sunny autumn morning, a small crowd has gathered on the corner of Fleet Street and Bedford Row in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/temple-bar\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/temple-bar\">Temple Bar<\/a> opposite the Oliver St John Gogarty pub. They are a group of 15 urban sketchers from Britain, Canada, the US and Germany, over on a weeklong trip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">As they work, other tourists and locals stop to look at their drawings. They chat pleasantly, and move on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">If someone was looking for an image to advertise Dublin\u2019s cultural quarter, this is it. It\u2019s almost too perfect. It also couldn\u2019t be further removed from the image often portrayed in media and on social media of Temple Bar. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In recent months, the area has been the focus of numerous reports of attacks on tourists, with some hospitalised as a result of their injuries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Kayla Jones, who organised the art trip, was unaware of these incidents, but had heard Temple Bar could \u201cbe a bit leery\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">\u201cI suppose what you hear is that it\u2019s the drinking capital of Europe,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cBut being here, it\u2019s been quite lovely. We\u2019ve been out in the pubs, there\u2019s been a great atmosphere, nice food. We haven\u2019t had any trouble. We have had a lot of people coming up to us, but they\u2019ve all just been curious about what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">But what is the experience for the permanent population living and working in the area? <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cYou don\u2019t move here expecting a quiet life,\u201d says Declan O\u2019Brien, who has lived in Temple Bar for 20 years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cI\u2019ve always been a bit of a townie, I suppose, but what I like about Temple Bar is the cultural stuff. All the independent local retailers; it doesn\u2019t get talked of enough. Go down Crow Street, and every single shop is an independent trader. There\u2019s great personality among these shops and there\u2019s a great community here, which probably doesn\u2019t get spoken about as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThere\u2019s lots going on that isn\u2019t based around drink. There\u2019s markets, during the summer there were free concerts. I was at a class last night in the Gaiety School of Acting. There\u2019s lots of alternative tours, people are interested in the history of the area, not just pubs and pub crawls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">While O\u2019Brien is clearly an enthusiast, he\u2019s not blind to its problems. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">\u201cThe pandemic was a turning point, there was a visible lack of policing and that vacuum was filled by antisocial behaviour.\u201d He references the gangs of youths that descended on the city during Covid-19 lockdowns, often involved in street brawls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThis year we have seen an increased police presence, and that has made a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The use of apartments for illegal short-term letting is to O\u2019Brien now the bigger threat to Temple Bar he says. \u201cWe need a massive clampdown on that. It\u2019s making it very hard for people to live here.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Two years ago the Aston Quay and Temple Bar Business and Residents\u2019 Alliance formed in response to the \u201chigh levels of open drug dealing and street crime\u201d in the area, particularly in its back lanes. The alliance now represents almost 50 businesses and residents\u2019 groups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Stephen Kennedy of Copper+Straw coffee shop on Aston Quay, who chairs the alliance, said the problems had \u201csignificantly\u201d receded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe corner of Aston Quay was a real hotspot in terms of open drug dealing and drug taking, and a lot of antisocial behaviour. It\u2019s significantly better than it was, that doesn\u2019t mean the situation is entirely resolved \u2013 we do see drug dealing and drug use on a daily basis, but in comparison to how things were, it is definitely better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He attributes this in particular to the introduction of the high-visibility Garda foot patrols earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThey are a complete game changer. Everybody\u2019s shoulders dropped as soon as those measures were introduced, you just feel more reassured and a bit safer. We didn\u2019t even need to be told they had started \u2013 we could see it; there were just more guards on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Recently, however, alliance members have alerted him to a reduction in those patrols. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe feedback is that foot patrols seemed to have dropped off a little bit. The businesses I spoke to said things are still better, but over the last six or eight weeks, there has been less of a presence. That\u2019s a worry, because the reduction of antisocial behaviour was almost immediate and then if there\u2019s a little bit of a drop-off the rise is very noticeable once again.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Policing alone won\u2019t solve Temple Bar\u2019s problems, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWe need to do more in terms of the city centre\u2019s public realm, making it more attractive and more pleasant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He references the need for CCTV cameras and improved lighting, particularly in the lanes. \u201cThe lanes are certainly one of the trickiest and thorniest issues to deal with. They\u2019re dark, they\u2019re dirty, they\u2019re not really used except for deliveries and bins. Introducing planting, street art, gives people a reason to use the lanes and creates natural surveillance as a deterrent to antisocial behaviour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Restaurateur Niall Sabongi is less convinced of the success of the high-visibility patrols. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cOne of our staff called the guards the other night, they got through an hour later, that\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Niall Sabongi, outside Klaw; The Seafood Cafe in Temple Bar, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D&#xF3;naill&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill \/ The Irish Times\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CZPWMVQNVJCUTMZBVTCJVCJ4CU.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Niall Sabongi, outside Klaw; The Seafood Cafe in Temple Bar, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill<\/p>\n<p>Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In May 2023 Sabongi spoke out about repeated break-in attempts at the Seafood Cafe on Fownes Street, with his windows smashed several times. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cI haven\u2019t had any incidents recently. The big problem we had with gangs of kids, that\u2019s definitely dropped off, but when you need the guards, there\u2019s no one. You might see one guard a night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He realises other parts of the city may not have great sympathy for special pleading for Temple Bar, but he said, given its importance to tourism it does require additional resources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cTemple Bar, whether people like it or not, is the tourist area, it\u2019s silly to pretend it\u2019s not. The spotlight is on it all the time, so when incidents happen here it is amplified, and word will travel that Dublin is not safe, that it\u2019s rough, and it\u2019s a kip, when it\u2019s really not.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWe need people to feel safe, there should be a zero-risk approach. There isn\u2019t any risk walking down the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es at 2am, you should be just as safe at 2am walking past McDonald\u2019s in Temple Bar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">On Temple Lane South the glass front of Beard and Barnetts barbers is badly cracked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cMostly, it\u2019s people coming out of the bar with a pint glass and just throwing the glass, not people trying to break in,\u201d co-owner Ben Chubb says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">It\u2019s a part of Temple Bar life he accepts with remarkable equanimity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWe\u2019ve left it like that about three years. It\u2019s smashed now, so someone isn\u2019t going to smash it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">A daytime trader, he feels he escapes some of the worst excesses of Temple Bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cSometimes people come into the shop and refuse to leave, or drunk people come in looking to have a shamrock shaved into their head, but do you know what? Temple Bar has its faults, but most of the time it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Martin Harte, chief executive of the Temple Bar Company, believes there is a disproportionate focus on crime and antisocial incidents in Temple Bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThere are 68,000 people passing through Temple Bar every day. Incidents that have happened are really, really unfortunate, but I think we do have a tendency to talk up issues sometimes, that statistically, aren\u2019t particularly big issues. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThere\u2019s a tendency to focus more on Temple Bar because of the brand. A story in Temple Bar get legs quicker than the story in Templemore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Much of this is driven by orchestrated online campaigns to \u201cramp up fear\u201d about public safety he says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cI do think a lot it this comes from the extreme right-wing media and social media trying to stoke up fear to serve their own agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a sunny autumn morning, a small crowd has gathered on the corner of Fleet Street and Bedford&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60,38702],"class_list":{"0":"post-77375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-temple-bar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}