It’s the cheap bus services ,a river of heroin ,
They come down as mini mules and then shoplift as their faces might not be as well known to security ,different batch every week .
But in terms of Corks own let’s say you have two things ,
1) they will tell you that they come to the city centre as it’s less tough than the outlying areas ,
This is true to an extent as the cashless scenario these days has driven a lot of the nastier types into the suburbs in search of easy marks whether it’s burglary or shaking down teens ,I’ve forbidden my youngest one from frequenting one salubrious south city suburb for this reason ,town is safer for them too believe me ,
2) the second thing and paradoxically is the gpo ,
Sit at butlers and observe ,the poor misfortunes go in to the GPO to “get paid “and the dealers are circling waiting for them ,there is a chaotic rhythm to the movements ,but you’ll pick it up,
If you asked my colleagues in the thin black line what is the one thing they would like to see that would clean up the city they all agree it’s these guys getting cash Payments from the gpo,
Stopping cash payments would profoundly change the situation immediately but a minority may get violent ,unfortunately the cashless agenda must be resisted but this is one positive of it ,how could it be achieved ,
You’ll notice then that the streets get a lot calmer after 5 pm ,the simple reason is that’s when the majority of doormen and security guards clock in ,
At any given time there are x3 times what the Gardai have visually present ,
Lives are saved daily by them and this is no exaggeration as well as other interventions in situations thst just would not be tolerated in any other country ,
I imagine that if services were withdrawn to demonstrate how far the policing of our city now relies on private security the result would be mayhem ,
In the meantime people ask why businesses are closing ,try 35 plus euro an hour for security,
It’s a neat parallel with housing ,
Stop building (recruiting ) rely on the private rental sector (private security ) and then wonder where it all went wrong when the city grows ,
It’s actually easily fixed but none of the gov or council live i n the city ,
There will only be action when a young Garda is slain in broad daylight on the grand parade ,
But in the meantime let’s keep bigging up a failing English market to horrified tourists who will never return ,
No positive moves however will save us from the coked up 40 year old “fella” with the Douglas sneer .
