The trouble really started in mid-2021, he says, when gangs of youths were involved in rioting in the area around Grafton Street. At the time, Dublin City Council was endeavouring to pedestrianise streets in that area to make the most of outdoor dining opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have hours of CCTV footage myself, I have letters over to the superintendent but it’s like beating your head off a brick wall. I’m not blaming the guards but this is supposed to be the tourist area of Dublin, it should be crawling with guards and you never see any of them.”Just across the road, on the corner of Fownes Street and Cecilia Street, Niall Sabongi who owns the Seafood Cafe says the Garda presence in the area has dramatically reduced in the last 18 months.
“You have young people sitting up on the window ledge here rolling joints, doing lines of cocaine right in front of people. We go out to try and move them on they’ll just tell us to eff off, but anyway I’m a restaurateur I’m not a bouncer.” It also needs to be remembered that there are residents in Temple bar, he says. “I love the area, I lived here until two years ago for 15 years. People think it’s just a touristic area with hens and stags but there are residents here and it can be such a great area.”
“I’m not saying people haven’t had issues – this is a capital city – but is it widespread, and reflective of the area in general? Absolutely not.”