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Majority of publicans in Dublin worried about safety on the streets
Nine out of 10 Dublin publicans have admitted they are worried about safety on the streets, a new survey has found.
According to figures from the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), 96% of pub owners are worried about the current level of policing on the streets, with customers also being concerned about their safety.
The data also revealed that 48% of all Dublin publicans have said their customers have expressed security concerns about being on the city streets in the last year.
Additionally, during the last year, Dublin publicans admitted that they had needed to call the Irish police force, known as the gardaí, on an average of four times, while one in eight Dublin pubs had to contact the them 10 times or more.
According to the research, more than 350 pubs across Dublin took part in the LVA survey, which is proportionate to around half the total number of pubs in the city.
Speaking about the situation, LVA CEO Donall O’Keeffe said: “For quite some time now, our members have been expressing concern about the level of policing in Dublin. Almost half of all pubs in Dublin say their customers are also expressing alarm about their safety when on the streets going to and from these premises.”
O’Keeffe explained: “Given the importance of hospitality towards the capital’s general tourism offering, this is something [of which] we all should be taking heed” and reassured “we are in regular contact with An Garda Síochána [commonly known as the gardaí] on these matters, who are doing excellent work with the resources that they have. But this does seem to come down to questions of resourcing. Clearly, the gardaí need more personnel to be fully equipped to maintain a strong policing presence on the streets of the capital and this is something that the government should be providing.”
The LVA outlined that greater policing resources were important and suggested that these must be delivered by the government in the next Budget.
O’Keeffe outlined: “There also must be strategic choices made to utilise these resources in a visible way. We have seen this can be done when necessary, such as the period in the run up to Christmas last year, following the riots. It is very important to see policing levels start approaching that level again, for people’s security and for the image of Dublin.”
According to O’Keeffe: “This needs to be addressed to ensure that people remain comfortable to socialise in Dublin.”
He added: “We fully hope and expect the government’s task force on city centre will seek more police on the streets of Dublin when they publish their recommendations shortly. That then needs to be followed up by the government delivering the funding needed in Budget 2025, funding that will allow An Garda Síochána to have a strong, sustained policing presence on the streets throughout Dublin.”
Dublin’s pubs have been under scrutiny of late with news of Dublin pubs charging over £10 for pints of beer, sparking fear among locals that more of Ireland’s pubs will raise their prices.
Additionally, there has been an introduction of non-alcoholic Guinness which could assist in curbing issues with Diageo expanding the reach of its Guinness 0.0 on draught to 1,000 venues across the Republic of Ireland.
Meanwhile, budget pub chain JD Wetherspoon revealed plans to sell off its sites in the Republic of Ireland outside of Dublin for €10 million, illustrating the tough times the industry was facing.
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