Anti-social behaviour in Dublin's city centre is as bad as ever, a takeaway owner warned yesterday.
Dhiran Madan’s business in Temple Bar was forced to close when one of his couriers was attacked in 2021. He was speaking after RGDATA, which represents over 4,000 independent businesses across Ireland, revealed its members have suffered waves of “harassment, vile abuse and shoplifting”.
Dhiran said: “These reports did not surprise me. We know that this goes on, so we need more gardai and for them to be more visible. A drunken man recently came into my shop and punched someone.
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"I rang the gardai and they arrested him. I am always ringing the gardai. Our window was smashed two years ago when a delivery driver was attacked and they threw broken bottles.
“There are still problems now. Large groups of teens with bad elements are drinking and taking drugs and annoying and harassing my staff. They stand outside, smoking cannabis, you can see they have joints, and it puts off customers and couriers.
"My staff ask them to go away, but you fear for them that the problem can get worse, so we call the guards for their safety.” When the courier was attacked outside the business – which is managed by Davin Er Malik, below – videos of the assault went viral online.
People in the footage were heard abusing the delivery driver, who is a foreign national, and urged his attackers – including one who wielded a glass bottle – to hit and punch him. A recent RGDATA survey of the owners of 400 convenience shops, forecourt stores and supermarkets found that 95% of them have been victims of crime in the last 12 months.
The survey found that 93% have been victims of shoplifting and a quarter have been the victims of robberies or burglaries. Tara Buckley, who is chief of the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association said: “The amount of crime day in, day out – shoplifting, theft, assault, harassment, racist attacks, sexual harassment… our members are really concerned.”
Shane Gleeson, who runs five Spar shops in Limerick city, added: “I’ve had a bottle of wine broken and been threatened with the broken glass. I’ve had guys with needles… my son was threatened with a knife.”
A number of staff in a Cork city Tesco store wear bodycams in a bid to deter abuse and shoplifting after the business reportedly had around €10,000 worth of stock stolen in a week. Dhiran last night told the Irish Mirror: “When that courier was attacked, it was really bad.
"Temple Bar is a main tourism area for Dublin and is widely promoted as a fun place to visit, but tourists come and see anti-social behaviour..”
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