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DESPITE CRIME RATES in Dublin being relatively low, the perception that O’Connell street and the city centre is a dangerous place is seriously damaging, said Richard Guiney of the Dublin City Business Improvement District, who said anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) will improve the situation.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie today following a court ruling yesterday in which an ASBO was imposed on 19-year-old man and where O’Connell Street was described in court as “out of control”, Guiney said that ASBOs have been successful in other cities.
“Figures show that only 74 per cent of people feel safe in Dublin by day and only 35 per cent feel safe at night,” he said, despite crime figures showing that there is only one in a million chance that you will assaulted on O’Connell Street.
Perception
“It is the perception that is damaging to the city and that needs to be changed,” said Guiney.
“There is drug dealing taking place in O’Connell Street – often the sale of prescription drugs and also aggressive forms of begging – this is all adding to peoples’ perception that it is unsafe,” he said.
“Asbos will work,” said Guiney, adding:
I think they can work and that young people to pay attention to them. Research by Susan Fitzgerald from the University of York shows that they are actually beneficial to young people as the ASBO forces them to be removed from the gangs that they are usually hanging around with and removes them from the situation.
He added however, that ASBOs should not be issued in isolation.
“I think for ASBOs to have a lasting impact on both the city and young people, they need to be issued in combination with some other supports. Those given ASBOs should be contacted by supports, where the question of what brought them to this point is asked, so that it can be addressed,” he said.
Guiney said that ASBOs were a workable alternative to jail time, stating that sending someone to jail for a few months with a moderate drug problem will only result in them coming out with a serious drug problem and this will not help to improve things for Dublin.
He added that after discussions with retailers, anti-social behaviour in Dublin had its peaks but that it really was an “ongoing issue”.
He said that it was the “fear factor” that Dublin was unsafe that needed to be addressed, stating that 59 per cent of the people visiting the island of Ireland will visit Dublin at some point. “We need to create a positive image of it,” he said.
‘Out of control’
Dublin City Councillor Ray McAdam of Fine Gael told TheJournal.ie had a mixed opinion about ASBOs but said he totally disagreed with the point that O’Connell Street is out of control.
“I think that ASBOs may work for minor offences and first-time offences, but I think if they are repeat incidences then you should face the penalties,” said McAdam.
He added that an increased police presence of the streets of the capital will help the situation, stating that the gardaí’s Operation Spire around the O’Connell Street area seemed to be working.
McAdam said he agreed with Guiney that in fact it is only a perception that the street is dangerous, stating that crime figures show otherwise. “I’m not sure exclusion orders are the way to go. An increased garda presence will reassure visitors and deter criminals,” he said.
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I imagine the equivalent of a paper jam on a 3D printer must be horrendous
Hehehe comment of the day. ..
Phenomenal business idea.
1: Buy 3D printer
2: Print out more 3D printers and sell them.
Sounds like the machines can now repoduce. *screams* THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD I TELLS YA!!!!
Would probably still be better quality than the majority of house built in this country during the Celtic tiger years.
This is actually exciting news in terms of construction technology.
Spot on.
This system would save us 100′s of millions and solve the housing “crisis” without having to fatten up crony NAMA builders pocket’s.
3d printing is going to have a massive impact on the world we live in. This technology will make many existing jobs redundant in the future.
It will definitely be a game changer it becomes practical anyway
Can’t wait
*bit torrents new conservatory
Imagine what this technology could do in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico or any country with a huge slum problem. Also the impact it could have in disaster zones, if houses like this could be built in 24 hrs in Haiti, New Orleans and other areas soon after the disasters there I’m pretty sure it would have made a huge difference to those people affected.
I’m no expert, but the article said each home cost $4800. Seems much cheaper than traditional building.
I just can’t get my head around 3d printing. I try , but It’s beyond me . I need to be led to a darkened room and allowed to sit down when I try to understand it. Am I alone? But I’m just so happy that some amazing people in the world have developed this technology.
‘Howiya Martin. Come here to me, am lookin’ for one of them 3D 24-Hour houses. Can ya do anythin’ for me?’
‘No problem Mick. I’ll tell ya what, I started one this morning but I should have her done by the end of June. How would then suit ya?’
‘The finest Martin. Take her easy. And if she comes easy take her home. Hah?! Go on’.
1500 square metres of house for $4800?
That’s assuming a single story, possibly double that for not much more.
That would solve the housing crisis here.
And just imagine what humanity could spend their resources on..
Could you not just live in a 3D printer that size
That’s my kind of thinking symbolism!
Just how good are hey at standing up to gale force winds, heavy rain, snow etc the sort of weather we get here. Does seem that it might be an answer to housing problems world wide.
Concrete built is better built… ;)
For $4800 you could build a new house every year and still be better off financially. Concrete is an expensive, slow and outdated way to build houses.
Concrete is cheap, the thousands of man hours required to turn it in to a house aren’t.
All good untill hurricane force winds hit it
You seem to know a lot about the physics behind the structural strength of these houses. Can you elaborate on what you know in terms of the houses structural inability to stand up to Gale force winds?
I know they said the building industry said the same about Timber frame houses in the 1980′s. But they were proven wrong.
in fairness cal most timber frame houses in Ireland have a block/brick outer leaf…
The Chinese,a great bunch of lads
Maybe the next invention would be a plastic 3D cooker to go with the house – doh!
Excuse my ignorance but is it normal breathing in plastic? Chinese workers gave died or became ill due to work conditions concerning plastics
You don’t breath it; its a house, you live in it.
Or, you’d suffocate fairly quickly if you stopped breathing in the house.
Maybe build a 3D oxigen mask
But isn’t the problem we have is that there are so many unused houses
It’s a very resourceful article. It’s very important to add more comments to the blog article. The main purpose of commenting is to make the article even richer. The more comments you have the better chance your article will be crawled by Google more frequently.
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