Councillors call for crackdown on crowds drinking by the canal in Ranelagh
Dublin councillors have urged gardaí to disperse crowds that gather along the Grand Canal in Ranelagh during sunny weather.
At their monthly meeting this week, members of Dublin City Council’s South East Area Committee said the behaviour of revellers who gather along the canals was “disgraceful” and impacting local residents.
Labour’s Dermot Lacey said he usually adopts the mantra, “live and let live”, but when the crowd was affecting the local community to such a significant degree, the gardaí should step in.
Fine Gael councillor David Coffey agreed, and said the issue was now one of law and order as opposed to providing services like portaloos to those socialising along the canal.
“The behaviour down there at the moment, I think, is disgraceful,” he said. “People aren’t allowed to drink legally on the street in the manner that it’s happening.”
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Mr Coffey said there was no point in getting the garda public order unit involved late at night to “mop up the mess”, nor was it the responsibility of Dublin City Council (DCC) waste crews to clean up after people the morning afterwards.
“Gardaí need to be down there from early on in the afternoon and send everybody away as soon as they turn up with their bag of cans and their bottles of wine,” he said.
Mr Coffey added that he would be emailing local sergeants and potentially the Minister for Justice about the issue, as he said there was “outrageous behaviour” in this spot.
The discussion arose from a motion placed by councillor Mannix Flynn on what he called the “outrageous drunkenness”, which he said was “besieging” local residents.
“The long-standing community feel entirely abandoned and feel they’re hostages in their own home,” he wrote.
“One has only got to look at the social media postings to see what this community and its residents must put up with.”
Mr Flynn said residents’ gardens were being “used as lavatories” and a walkway had turned into “an open sewer and a drug den”.
He said similar issues had been faced in Portobello and these were now dealt with.