First City Centre ASBOs Served Barring Five Individuals

‘-      Dublin City BID Welcomes Orders Handed Down by the District Court  –

Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID) today welcomed the news that five individuals have been served with Anti-Social Behaviour Orders by the District Court.  The orders mean that the individuals in question are now effectively banned from the north side of the city’s commercial core for a period of 12 months.  If they enter the area the Gardaí can arrest them and immediately bring them before the Court.  Richard Guiney, CEO of Dublin City BID and two city centre businesses gave evidence in the cases heard before the court this morning.

Town centre management companies in the UK use ASBO’s as a key tool in dealing with anti-social behaviour in their city centres. They have been tremendously successful in cities such as Liverpool in changing the perception of the city. In the 1990’s perceptions of safety in Liverpool was low, however today 99% of people feel safe by day and 78% feel safe by night.  By caparison, the Dublin statistics are 74% feel safe by day and 35% by night which tells us that the perception of the city is that it is not safe when this is simply not the case. The official crime statistics demonstrate that Dublin is in fact a safe city centre.

Commenting Richard Guiney said “These judgements mark a very important step in the fight to take back the city centre for the vast majority of people who just want to enjoy it.  We estimate that 0.07% of people in the city are engaged in anti-social behaviour and it is sad to think of the disproportionate impact that they have on perceptions of our city. ASBOs work, the individuals concerned do not want to be barred from the city centre. UK research shows that the serving of ASBOs or even the warnings of ASBOs can encourage individuals to re-evaluate their lives and seek rehabilitation without recourse to prison sentences.

Today is a good day in the fight against anti-social behaviour in our city centre and on behalf of the business community I would like to extend our gratitude to the Gardaí in Store Street for their work in bringing this about and commit our support to any future actions”.

Dublin City BID will work with the Gardaí in monitoring the south side of the city centre to ensure the five individuals concerned do not transfer their activities there.

To read the full press release click here