RTE viewers were left disgusted at footage of O'Connell Street broadcast on Prime Time on Tuesday night.
The filth on the street, open drug use and violence captured by RTE left a bad taste in many people's mouths. The street, which is rich in history from the former site of Nelson's Pillar to the GPO, has been in decline for some time, and Wexford TD Paul Kehoe told the Dail he was "ashamed" of the street which is full of "druggies".
A new Garda Station was promised to be delivered by the end of the summer but Dublin Live previously reported the deadline has been missed and works haven't even started yet. The station was set to be a hub for operations targeting anti social behaviour.
Read more: Wexford TD slammed for comment about 'druggies' on Dublin's O'Connell Street
RTE Prime Time wanted to document the depravity, so they sent a reporter with a body camera onto the street for a couple of days as part of an investigation for Tuesday's episode.
Scenes captured by reporter Fran McNulty included:
- A man doing crack, who offered some to Fran at 9am on a Wednesday morning
- Multiple fights
- Homeless tents on both sides of the street
- Urine on the majority of the statues
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee was interviewed by Sarah McInerney about the situation, noting that Operation Citizen was going to be "re-launched" in the next fortnight. Dublin City Council told the programme O'Connell Bridge was getting a "deep clean" in November.
One person tweeted: "Living in the city centre for 21 years and since Covid started every problem was just shunted into D1 & Temple Bar, not just O'C Street, & nothing has been done since to rectify - totally shambolic."
A second added: "We lost our business in Parnell Square 10 years ago because of the anti social behaviour. We had people coming down to urinate and defecate on the steps and it was heart breaking. Unfortunately the police were no help and I'm still so angry about the whole thing."
While a third agreed: "Living in Dublin 15 years O'Connell St has always been a kip for decades now, this is nothing new. It only ever has thugs and confused looking tourists."
Another offered their own solutions, noting: "O'Connell Street needs a lot of work and support but there are a LOT of quick wins that can done - remove the multitude of sign posts, more rubbish bins, nightly deep cleans, pro-active policing, enforce standards for shop fronts"
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