Dublin beset by criminality and lawlessness since Covid pandemic

Irish Daily Mirror

11-05-2025

The local park was on fire when I went for a walk the other night around my neighbourhood in Dublin's Liberties.
On Pimlico Green, a wooden park bench was in flames. It was set alight by a burning bin placed underneath it.
Two gardai were standing with a group of young fellas, who were heckling and jeering the officers, fearless.
Passers-by continued about their business. This kind of scene is a normal part of life for those of us in the capital now.
On Thomas Street, speeding scooters, stolen DubBikes, drunks collapsed on paths, physical fights, and rubbish upturned are all regular sights.
Local politician Mannix Flynn calls it the 'high street of misery' and reckons crime has gone out of control because there is no enforcement, no consequences.
Staff in supermarkets in the area wear bodycams due to aggressive shoplifting that is a familiar drama to local shoppers.
Last year, a group of French tourists leaving a visit to the world-famous Guinness Storehouse were set upon by a gang in hoodies chasing after them with hammers. The tourists hid out in the nearby Arthur's pub and locked the doors.
That same evening, someone cracked my car window with a rock, as I drove past the 16th century St Catherine's Park.
Bring back Lugs Brannigan, I thought, the legendary Liberties lawman.
Welcome to Dublin's inner-city, post-pandemic.
It wasn't always like this. I have lived all over Dublin 8 for most of my adult life, because I love it here – and don't get me wrong, I still love it. Overall, the people who live here are the best you could find.
But I have never seen the kind of general lawlessness we live in now.
It's the same story in the north-inner city, with sports shop owner Paul Gallagher remarking this week: 'There's a lawlessness… the justice system is not fit for purpose. Criminals are being arrested and are back out again a few hours later. They've become brazen. If action isn't taken, it's going to become a no-go area.'
Mr Gallagher was referring to the fallout from the Dublin riots in November 2023, when post-pandemic crime reached its height.
His Asics store was looted in the chaos and carnage.
The night the city burned was the most violent riot in modern history and came as a sharp shock to those who hadn't realised how bad things had got.
But it started in the lockdowns of Covid, where the inner-city became like an empty playground for the few still rattling around, like Stephen King's The Stand.
Rules keeping people indoors meant fewer gardai on the street, and more opportunity to behave how you liked, unchecked.
So what exactly is going on? What legacy has the pandemic left, five years on? And how do we bring Dublin back to being a fair city, instead of a dirty old town?
Vincent Jennings, CEO of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association, describes the rise post-Covid as 'an acceleration of anti-social behaviour'.
He said: 'It accelerated because there haven't been consequences. We haven't had a safe environment for staff or customers for a long time.'
All too often, he says, shoplifters or public order offenders are not apprehended, not prosecuted.
He added: 'All the laws are there, they're just not being used.'
The CSNA is pushing for an assault against a shop worker to be a specific crime.
Mr Jennings said: 'In the pandemic, our members were lauded for acting in an incredibly difficult situation.
'We went into work and provided essential service. So surely we should be provided with a level of safety from the State.'
Donall O'Keefe of the Licensed Vintners Association, which looks after pubs in the capital, says bar owners are very worried about public order incidents.
'We need 1,000 extra gardai, more residents living in the city, a reimagining of O'Connell Street.
'A lot of security issues that might happen won't happen, if people see gardai.
'We had a survey last summer in which 96% of members expressed concerns about public order and safety in the city.'
Criminologist Trina O Connor reckons it's a cumulative effect from first austerity and then housing crisis and the pandemic on top of it.
She added: 'In lockdowns, young people in their formative years were socially isolated and many became groomed into different behaviours online.
'They were vulnerable to 'criminal drift' which is when you have someone who had adverse child experiences – known as ACEs – such as addiction, depression, violence or poverty in the home – who gets dragged into crime.'
The 'broken windows' theory is very important in this case, she says.
It states that visible signs of unchecked disorder and misbehaviour, such as broken windows, encourage further criminal activity.
Psychotherapist and author Stella O'Malley reckons it runs a lot deeper. She says the lengthy Covid lockdowns broke the social contract and left a lasting impact.
She said: 'We've lost a great deal of respect for authority in recent years, and the Covid lockdowns marked a turning point.
'That was when the social contract fractured for many. People were told to stay home, to skip funerals, to die alone. They doubt whether the government is truly acting in their best interests.
'And when trust breaks down, so does obedience. The lack of consequences may be part of the problem – but trust is at the heart of it. We lost it. And we haven't got it back.'