RTE Prime Time viewers who tuned into Tuesday's programme were left horrified - and some ashamed - by the state of O'Connell Street in Dublin.
The main street in the capital and one of the most important streets in the history of the country has declined massively in quality over the last three decades.
Where once it was the pride of Dublin city, nowadays you will see many people openly trying to avoid it if they can, or only passing through it when on public transport.
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RTÉ Prime Time wanted to figure out why, 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.
While Dublin City Council told the programme that O'Connell Bridge was getting a "deep clean" in November.
But this did nothing to reassure viewers who had tuned in to the show that anything significant will happen.
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 heartbreaking. 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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