Drugs, assault, arson and intimidation – the frightening scale of anti-social behaviour in Dublin city parks
Dublin’s parks are plagued by drug use, drug dealing, assaults and arson attacks, with more garda patrols needed, according to council reports that paint an alarming picture of public spaces in the city.
In a report seen by the Irish Independent, Dublin City Council (DCC) senior parks and landscape officer Deirdre Prince said staff were “increasingly confronted with serious anti-social and hazardous behaviour”.
“The escalation in aggressive conduct, the overt visibility of drug dealing and the discovery or concealment of weapons within park grounds have contributed to a growing sense of fear and vulnerability among staff,” she wrote.
In the document, addressed to An Garda Síochána’s acting assistant commissioner of the Dublin metropolitan area, Cliona Richardson, Ms Prince said city centre parks were facing a “very serious situation” that required “increased garda presence” to ensure safety for staff and the public.
A catalogue of 130 anti-social disturbances in nine city centre parks accompanied the report
It comes amid a wave of anti-social behaviour in Dublin’s parks, with playgrounds at Sean Moore Park, Bridgefoot Street Park and one in Kilmore all damaged extensively in recent months.
Newly installed toilets at St Anne’s Park were set on fire in October.
A catalogue of 130 anti-social disturbances in nine city centre parks accompanied the report. They all occurred in July and August.
The incidents were in Diamond Park, Wolfe Tone Park, Mountjoy Square, St Patrick’s Park, St Kevin’s Park, Cabbage Patch, Bridgefoot Street Park, St Audoen’s Park and St Catherine’s Park.
Bridgefoot Street Park, which opened in 2022, had the highest level of anti-social behaviour of any location, registering one incident a day for all of August.
Bridgefoot Street Park had the highest level of anti-social behaviour of any location. Photo: Fennell
The report noted “persistent and serious” anti-social behaviour there, including drug dealing, drug and alcohol use, gas inhalation and aggressive behaviour towards staff in the park’s cafe.
“Persistent narcotics-related activity continues to undermine the amenity and safety of Bridgefoot Park,” it said, noting that drug-dealing and related activity occurred there on all but five days in August.
Another blackspot was Mountjoy Square, which had 16 incidents between July 21 and August 23. Reports from a logbook kept by staff paint a dire picture of drug use in the square, with too few gardaí and an undercurrent of aggression.
“Today was the worst I have seen,” read one entry. “About 50 people selling drugs, drinking and insulting staff doing their job. God help us. Garda called to park. Need more patrols.”
Another read: “Park is full of people using and selling drugs, local people no longer feel safe using the park. Something serious needs to be done. It won’t be long before we have a fatality.”
Mountjoy Square was another blackspot. Photo: Getty
One park worker reported that they were asked by a member of the public where they could buy drugs. The worker said the man had been “told to go to Mountjoy Park, where there are loads of dealers”.
Another said the park was becoming a “no-go area” for residents due to the level of drug activity.
Three nearby parks – St Patrick’s, St Kevin’s and Cabbage Patch – are grouped together in the document and are among the worst-hit locations.
Between the three parks, 31 incidents were noted in August, with groups of youths repeatedly preventing rangers from locking the gates in Cabbage Patch and trying to remove locks and chains from gates.
Staff also reported teenagers throwing eggs at them and setting fire to pallets on multiple occasions.
Near Mountjoy Square, Diamond Park remains partly closed following a recent arson attack that caused more than €300,000 worth of damage.
Attacks on park staff and arson attempts are the most common incidents documented in the report.
Diamond Park in the north inner city has been the target of vandals multiple times
It also noted assaults on four security staff there in two separate attacks in October, resulting in the withdrawal of their services “until additional measures can be arranged”.
Staff wrote that the pattern of behaviour exhibited in the park represented “a serious and sustained breakdown of safety and security”, with almost every one of the 14 incidents listed involving a group of youths.
A person familiar with the area, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the teenagers were well-known to the community.
“That’d be all correct,” they said of the reports in the document. “And these are all 12- to 16-year-olds who go to school in that area, who live in that area.
“It’s our own kids doing it. It’s our own community doing it. They’re attacking their own community. It’s horrendous. "They’re intimidating people and they’re selling tablets on to people and then they’re beating them up.”
The person has reported the group to community gardaí in the past, but said “they don’t seem to want to know” and added that the culprits felt “untouchable” because they were under 18.
Rangers looking after St Patrick’s Park and its environs said garda responses were ‘ineffective’
“I think the parents have to take some kind of responsibility for their kids in the area, and they don’t because they think it’s funny,” they said.
The same group of children had also aimed their fireworks at foreign citizens on the street, the person said.
Along with details of anti-social behaviour, the report is also critical of garda response times to many of the listed incidents.
Rangers looking after St Patrick’s Park and its environs said garda responses were “ineffective” and they had stopped calling for support due to repeated instances of no response.
Conversely, the garda presence in Bridgefoot Park was reportedly “consistent throughout the month”, with visible patrols and active monitoring on most days. This, combined with co-ordination with park staff, ensured incidents were “resolved promptly”.
Other park staff reported more mixed feedback on garda responses, with many praising their interventions, but noting a lack of response on several occasions.
Dublin Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam. Photo: PA
Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said the report revealed a “prolonged, aggressive, somewhat violent attack” on the city’s public spaces.
“For me, this is bordering on a situation where I’m having questions asked of me about why we are spending more and more money repairing these parks or playgrounds,” he said.
“My answer is very simple. The answer to vandalism and anti-social behaviour is not to abandon public space, it’s to reclaim it.”
He said Diamond Park should be rebuilt, and that leaving it in its current state would be “the real bad money” in this situation.
“It costs us more in anti-social behaviour, policing and lost community confidence,” he said.
I’m not having a situation where the public are completely driven out of our public space
Mr McAdam said he would also be working with the garda commissioner to increase the level of patrols in parks and better co-ordinate responses to incidents.
“But it can’t all be about a garda response. That’s why we’re looking at the design of playgrounds, that’s why we’ve done the huge work we’ve done in Diamond Park,” he said.
The council was also now exploring potential new materials and technologies that could be more resistant to damage, he added.
“I’m not having a situation where the public are completely driven out of our public space,” Mr McAdam said.
An Garda Síochána was contacted for comment.