'Our teenage creche is now closed,' Laois shop reacts to antisocial behaviour

A Laois shop that has lost tens of thousands of euro due to theft this year announced it will no longer be “a creche” for teenagers. 

Owner of McSorley’s Drive Centra on the Mountrath Road in Portlaoise, Martin McSorely, described the last 18 months as an “absolute nightmare” and said he would like to see parents held responsible for the actions of their children.   

Theft and antisocial behaviour is threatening the viability of his Laois store and causing great difficulty for his staff, Mr McSorley explained.  

He said the youngsters have smashed toilets, abused staff and broken benches outside the shop. Last month a decision was taken to close the in-store seating in the evenings and a notice was posted on the shop’s social media. 

It read: “Our teenage creche is now closed. 

I’m sorry but due to the constant rowdy behaviour, abuse to staff and vandalism we are now closing our seating area and toilets to the public at 7 pm every evening of course in genuine situations we will try to assist but no teenagers will be allowed to hang around the site anymore or sitting in our seating area like the local club. If these are your teenagers then you should be ashamed and please ask them to stay away from our site. We have plenty of CCTV to back up the behaviour we have had to tolerate we will no longer tolerate it. If this continues, we will happily publish photographs CCTV and your face all instant are now being reported to the guards.” 

Mr McSorley operates nine stores including the Laois shop. He has five in Wexford, one in Carlow, one in Longford and another in Sligo. He has seen a rise in both theft and antisocial behaviour in all of his stores since the lockdown was lifted but he said the Portlaoise store is his most troublesome. 

Mr McSorley was keen to point out that it is a tiny minority of local teenagers that are causing the difficulty in his store. Since posting the online message he has been contacted by customers who are supportive of his message. 

Antisocial behaviour is driving customers away but theft has emerged as another major problem. Mr McSorley was eager to point out that the thefts were being committed by people of all ages but he said there were also teenagers involved. He said stocktakes in the first two quarters of the year indicated losses in the tens of thousands of euros in both quarters. 

“How is that sustainable? We seriously have to decide whether we continue trading or not,” he said. 

“The last 18 months has been an absolute nightmare,”  Mr McSorley said. 

“We are being robbed by kids from the age of 10 to god knows what age,” he remarked. 

He said there are gangs of 15 or 16 youngsters arriving at a time on bicycles. There is a group of four teenagers in particular who he said were “causing mayhem” in the shop. 

Mr McSorley doesn’t believe the issue was one solely for gardaí. He thinks there is a need for education and he says parents should be held liable for the actions of their children. 

“Parents should be held responsible for what their kids do,” he insisted. 

He said the children will continue to break the law as “they don’t feel there is any come back” 

“They take everything. They clear out the minerals, they clear out our sweets, they even order out of the deli and make off,” he revealed. 

“I think the guards are stretched. It is not that they do not want to help us. They are really stretched in what they can do. It is hard,” he said. 

Mr McSorley has recently upgraded his cameras and security but he says GDPR(General Data Protection Regulations) makes it very difficult for shopkeepers who want to name and shame culprits. 

“The GDPR is holding my hand and stopping me from being able to police my business. We are being threatened with slander. It can’t be that way. It is not fair,” he said. 

CEO of Laois Chamber Alliance Jackie Carroll recently joined a delegation from Chambers Ireland who called for additional resources for gardaí to tackle retail crime in a pre-budget submission to Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Minister Jack Chambers. 

She said retailers in Portlaoise have an excellent relationship with local gardai. She commended the Portlaoise Business Watch scheme.  

The scheme, which is run by Gardaí in Portlaoise Community Policing under Chief Superintendent Anthony Lonergan and Superintendent Eamon Curley in partnership with Laois Chamber Alliance, was launched last November.   

Gardaí were contacted by the Leinster Express/Laois Live in relation to the criminality and antisocial behaviour in Portlaoise on Friday, August 30. They have yet to respond to the query.