O’Connell Street should be the jewel in the crown of our capital city. Instead, it has become a byword for anti-social activity, drug dealing and creeping dereliction.
The unflattering depiction of Dublin’s main thoroughfare on RTE’s Prime Time this week will have come as no surprise to north inner city residents, businesses or anyone who passes through O’Connell Street on a regular basis.
But the sad decline of this historic and once proud street is no accident – it is a direct result of inaction by successive governments and a toothless local authority.
Read more: RTE Prime Time viewers disgusted by state of O'Connell Street
As a former Dublin city councillor, I have seen dozens of plans for O’Connell Street come to nothing.
Lack of leadership is at the core of O’Connell Street’s myriad problems. The reality is that councillors only have an illusion of power, with unelected officials making decisions for which they’ll never be held accountable.
At a minimum, the city needs a directly-elected mayor with executive powers who would be answerable to the public.
Long delays in developing the Carlton Cinema site and the closure of iconic retail institution Clerys have resulted in the area becoming a shadow of its former self.
Neglected environments allow anti-social behaviour and crime to thrive. Boarded up businesses, derelict buildings and persistent littering give the impression that the authorities have just given up.
While it’s important the public feel safe on O’Connell Street, increased policing is only part of the solution. Demonising those struggling with addiction by labelling them “druggies” – as Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe did earlier this week – will solve nothing.
Poverty, deprivation and inequality lie at the heart of addiction. A multi-agency approach is required to tackle the underlying causes of our drugs problem.
We must see the long-promised roll-out of supervised injecting centres, where addicts are at reduced risk of overdosing on our streets and more likely to engage with drugs services.
The Government must respond to stem the tide of decline. For over a year, I have been asking for statements on Dublin city to be heard in the Dáil. This week, the Taoiseach informed me this will finally happen in November.
In the Dáil next month, the Taoiseach should bring forward plans to create a dedicated taskforce to address the problems.
It’s hard to imagine any other country allowing their main thoroughfare to become so run-down and unsafe. O’Connell Street should be our Champs-Élysées – but instead it is in terminal decline.
It is time we reclaimed it.
Gary Gannon is a Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central.
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