Dundalk residents intimidated by antisocial behaviour

Residents in Quay Street and Barrack Street say they have been left feeling intimidated in their own homes, due to an upsurge in antisocial behaviour over the last few years, with one resident describing the area as like “Cowboys and Indians” over the May bank holiday weekend.

Locals have become increasingly concerned with groups loitering on street corners, raucous behaviour and verbal disputes, rampant littering and suspected drug taking.

There is particular concern with antisocial behaviour off Peter Street and the Peter Street Lane area at the back of Halliday Mills apartment complex

“It’s not every weekend, but the [May] bank holiday weekend it was horrendous,” said one resident.

“On the Friday night, the fire brigade had to come down twice to put out two fires. A couple of weeks before that, there was a party that started at 10:35 and it went on 'til 3 o’clock in the morning and the roars and the screams of them was something serious.”

Another resident told how, “we might ring the guards two or three times before they can come out and are then told that there is nothing they can do.”

Discarded drug paraphernalia can be seen in the area with another resident commenting that: “We get onto the council and get told there’s nothing they can do because it’s not their laneway. It’s like we’re in no-man's-land, and where do we go and what do we do?”

A recent cleanup on the street collected over thirty needles on one Saturday alone, with residents claiming that it wasn’t unusual to see people “walking about off their heads.”

Local Fine Gael councillor Robert Nash has been speaking with residents and has suggested to the council that a gate could be put on the laneway with only residents given keys, as has happened in other areas of the town.

“It’s a commonsense solution that has been implemented in other areas locally,” he said, acknowledging fire safety concerns around blocking off the laneway Councillor Nash said a mechanism could be installed so that the gate opens automatically should the fire alarm be triggered in the complex.

A number of local residents also expressed concern with plans for 44 new Simon Community units at the old dole office on Barrack Street, fearing it would “only add to an intolerable situation,” and remarking that, “[We’re] very worried because we have an awful lot on our plate already.”

Residents shared that they’ve made formal complaints to the local Simon Community and have expressed frustration over what they perceive as a lack of communication, especially in light of plans for 44 additional units in the area.

When asked to comment on a number of the residents’ concerns and complaints, including resident complaints around antisocial behaviour and some service users coming and going from the Simon premises beyond the set curfew; the Dundalk Simon Community said they were “aware of media reports relating to antisocial behaviour in the area around Barrack Street and Halliday Mills, the latter which is not under the ownership or management of Dundalk Simon.”

They further said that their “teams take a highly proactive approach to dealing with neighbourhood issues and have a Good Neighbourhood policy that is communicated to all of our staff members and clients/service users.

“Our staff do daily checks on the area around our Barrack Street location and remove any sharps or other contentious items noted and record the location and removal of same. The team will also manage any loitering issues they encounter.

“Dundalk Simon Community also has a complaints process through which any neighbourhood issues are managed in a timely and effective way.

“We engage regularly with the local community and encourage them to call Gardai for escalated issues if required.

“Although we have service agreements in place with our service residents, it must be noted that the residents of Dundalk’s Simon’s facility are independent adults.

“The organisation will engage with them to ensure that service rules are followed, persistent issues may lead to a review of placement.”

Councillor Robert Nash says a collaborative approach is needed to resolve the issues along with regular garda patrols.

“I just feel that over the last number of years people on Quay Street and Barrack Street have been through the mill when it comes to antisocial behaviour with Halliday Mills and other houses down here and plans for more units for the Simon, 44 units I think, is going to increase the antisocial behaviour,” he said.

“People down here are obviously very worried and they feel they’ve been abandoned and let down by the council and the guards as well.

“There’s not enough garda presence in the area. These are elderly residents who feel intimidated and they fear for their lives at night.

“But when they do ring the guards and the guards come down, they arrest people and the next day they are straight back down to the Simon.

“The solution has to be a greater garda presence, there has to be more collaboration between the Simon Community and the residents, there has to be more collaboration between the council and the Simon.

“Obviously the Simon have a responsibility for the people they are caring for, but the council and the guards have a responsibility to the people in the area to look after them, it’s their property that is being damaged and it’s them that are putting up with antisocial behaviour all the time.”