DUBLIN’S LORD MAYOR Daithí de Róiste has called for more “high visibility policing” in the capital city ahead of a meeting of the Dublin City Council Joint Policing Committee this evening, where assistant Garda commissioner Angela Willis is due to speak.
De Róiste, who was speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland radio programme, also said that if the Council’s concerns are not satisfactorily addressed at this evening’s meeting, he would like to see minister for justice Helen McEntee come before the committee.
“The number one message is that we need high visibility policing on the streets of Dublin. We have a real issue in terms of what’s happening on the streets of our capital city at the moment. And we need all the agencies but in particular to gardaí to do a lot more.”
His comments were echoed by members of DCC’s Joint Policing Committee who spoke to The Journal. One said higher visibility of gardaí was needed to boost public confidence, while another said he believes changes are also needed to the justice system.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon at the Curragh, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he believes the government’s current scheme to increase numbers in An Garda Síochána is working.
“Significant resources have been provided in terms of recruitment in Templemore, there was a significant intake into Templemore this year,” Martin said.
“When the numbers come into Templemore, they will be trained, but obviously Covid-19 interrupted significantly Templemore and the training capacity within An Garda Síochána, that’s well known. And that’s been a factor.
“There’s two key problems or challenges. I think one is the overall full employment nature of our society. And secondly, the time lag between the interruption in training, particularly [for] the gardaí during COVID, and the restoration of full capacity at Templemore so over time that will improve.”
The Tánaiste added that he welcomes proposals to remove the upper age restriction of 35 for new recruits into the gardaí.
The fresh attention being paid to the safety of Dublin City’s streets this week comes after an American tourist was left in a critical condition after he was set upon by a number of people, who beat and kicked him on Talbot Street on Wednesday night.
The man, who has been identified by his family as Stephen Termini, is said to be at risk of losing an eye due to the injuries he sustained.
De Róiste sought to assure people that Dublin is a safe city “in the main” but said that more Gardaí are needed on the streets, especially since recruitment and retention are problems facing the force.
“I believe Dublin is a safe city in the main and we’re always going to have instances but the perception of Dublin is that it’s unsafe at the moment that we do have a lot of antisocial behavior on the streets.
“I’m saying it’s simply not good enough and we need an urgent response to address this.”
Groups of teenagers, the Lord Mayor said, are a particular issue and he put it down to a lack of visible policing on the streets.
“I think high visibility goes somewhat to really addressing this problem. When you look at the problem that we have at the moment in terms of young gangs terrorising people and that sense of lawlessness amongst 14, 15, 16-year-olds.
The city needs more high visibility policing, he said, “because these gangs are able to operate without the fear that they’re going to be just stumbled upon by a member of An Garda Síochána.”
De Róiste went into some detail about the numbers of gardaí working in the city, particularly the north inner city.
“There were 615 gardaí last month in Dublin North Central Division. So that’s one of the highest crime rates in the country. That’s 24 fewer than the start of the year. And that’s a real real issue in terms of what we had.
“But also we hear over the past week that we’ve more guards coming out to Templemore, etc. There’s 222 recruits being sworn in, but that’s versus 150 that retired and 59 that have resigned. So there’s a net increase of about 13 guards.
“We need a lot more to make Dublin a much safer place, both for people coming into the city from abroad, but also for ordinary Dubliners coming in to enjoy the city to go to restaurants to go to bars.
Asked what could be done to increase Garda numbers, de Róiste said that offering a more attractive salary would make a difference, as would changing the restrictions on who the force can recruit. Garda recruits cannot be over the age of 35 as it stands.
“I think it’s definitely something to be looked at. And I don’t think it’s just the rules. I mean, the country is awash with money at the moment, maybe we should start making it more enticing for people to go into An Garda Síochána, to make a career out of it.
“But as I said, anything that allows more gardaí onto the streets, whether that’s people over the age of 35, whether it’s increasing the package that’s available to members, it’s all welcome because it’s absolutely needed.”
The Lord Mayor was asked what the Council’s next step would be if the meeting this evening does not produce satisfactory outcomes.
“The next step, I think we could be looking to call the minister for justice in and see would she appear in front of the joint policing committee for Dublin.
“I think there’s a lot more we can do from that multi-agency approach… but I think this is a problem that rests with the minister for justice.”
Assistant Garda Commissioner Angela Willis will meet the Dublin City Council Joint Policing Committee this evening to discuss the response to crime and policing in the capital’s city centre.
The Journal spoke to a number of members of the Joint Policing Committee in relation to today’s meeting. All five said they want to see more gardaí on the streets in Dublin.
Fine Gael councillor Danny Byrne said he wants to see gardaí patrolling O’Connell Street 24 hours a day.
In addition to a greater garda presence, Labour councillor Dermot Lacey wants to see stricter sentencing for minor violent offences and anti-social behaviour.
Lacey, who is a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, said that he was assaulted while in a pub three years ago.
He said the gardaí and the pub owner all handled the situation “brilliantly” but that it was the court system that let him down as the alleged perpetrator was not convicted.
Lacey supports calls for a greater garda presence on the streets and added that greater social intervention is also needed. However, he said there is “no point” in this if the courts “continue to see anti-social behaviour as a mild action requiring a mild rebuke”.
The former Lord Mayor was critical of the court system and said the problem is judges in Ireland are “mainly middle class” and “don’t understand the impact of mild crime”.
However, not all councillors were convinced that there will be any meaningful change in how Dublin is policed.
“I don’t expect anything to happen here other than grandstanding,” independent councillor Mannix Flynn told The Journal.
“The situation has been out of control for a number of years,” he added.
Flynn said without a greater garda presence on the ground there will be a rise in vigilantism.
Flynn and Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Heney both agreed that morale in An Garda Síochána is currently low and needs to be improved.
“People seem to feel the balance has gone away from the gardaí to the perpetrators of crime,” Heney said.
“I speak to gardaí who say we can’t even chase people in the car because we are afraid we are going to be done,” Flynn added.
Heney added that she wants to see the Assistant Commissioner allocate more gardaí to the streets to help build public confidence.
“I know a lot of senior gardaí would say it isn’t the best use of resources, but for public confidence people need to see more gardaí on the street,” she said.
Green Party councillor Janet Horner said she wants to see better engagement from An Garda Síochána with members of the public.
She gave the example that communities in places like the IFSC currently feel like they are not being engaged with in relation to anti-social behaviour and crime.
With reporting from Jane Matthews.
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