Cork's 'no-go' streets: How safe is the city centre?

Officially, the figures show thefts from stores in Cork City were up 33% in the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period in 2023. But business owners claim the 418 reported incidents are not a true reflection of the scale of the problem. The same could be said for public order breaches — 280 incidents in the first quarter of this year.

Fine Gael councillor Joe Kavanagh told a recent city council meeting how MacCurtain Street traders have complained that their customers are being hassled on the street and that people are urinating in doorways, even during the day. 

“We have created a beautiful area and it’s gone from strength to strength but it’s also attracted a certain element that is creating an intimidating environment,” he said

Willie O’Brien, who owns Spar on MacCurtain Street, is one such trader. He sees people return just a day after being arrested for crimes at his store such as shoplifting and public order offences.

“One woman is currently doing time in Limerick Prison for stealing from me 14 times,” Willie told the Irish Examiner. “She didn’t just rob me. She constantly filled the place with shouting and aggression."

Willie said:

Three weeks ago I spotted a man walking out of the shop with a cup of tea. When I stopped him he literally threw the tea into my face.

"The language of the street is loud, aggressive but also very violent. Let’s not be under any illusions about that. When it comes to criminal law in this country there is an outdated revolving door system that doles out retribution with no restitution or rehabilitation."

He is calling on the Government to focus their efforts on combatting addictions in communities.

“95% of the people you see sitting on the street have issues other than poverty. There are support services available but for some reason society is not giving them the help they need.” 

Gheorghe Palcu works in the shop and recently had a woman dig her nails into his skin after she refused to pay for a bottle of wine. 

 “I was shaking. I have scars on my hand from the day she dug her nails into me."

Another customer threw a bottle at him in frustration at having to queue. The part-time opera singer, who hails from Romania, says he is often the target of relentless xenophobia. 

"They insult me and tell me to go back to my country. A lot of the time it’s very hard because you feel you have this duty to protect the customer and not allow for these things to happen. 

"The people causing the trouble are usually drunk or on drugs so you are worrying about the other customers. Often the other customers don’t know what to do and are just standing there in shock and disbelief.” 

Head of Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association, Vincent Jennings, said that Willie and Gheorghe's experiences reflect the situation nationally.

“I was speaking to man who has a couple of shops. He had two assaults on staff members. He caught the same guy shoplifting at 10pm and at 2.45am. 

The guy’s own wheelie bin was set on fire in an attempted arson attack of the entire building. In one week he had four incidents. This is not unusual. 

"It is so difficult to maintain morale for staff. It is also difficult to ensure that you, your staff and even your family are safe. We really are at crisis point. There are no more laws needed. The legislation is there. It just needs to be enforced as these people are causing mayhem across the country.” 

Mr Jennings said the lack of “on the ground” gardaí is also an issue. “That is without a doubt the deterrent effect of gardaí in an area. The fact that they can see things happening means they can defuse matters there and then. 

"They can get in there and prevent these issues before they start or intensify. Having gardaí on the ground is so important. You can’t see anything from a vehicle. You can’t pick up on an atmosphere and of course you are less likely to be flagged down by a member of the public. This is most certainly a very efficient way of policing.”

Brian Herlihy, who co-owns a number of Centra stores across Cork City, said the atmosphere and incidents of antisocial behaviour are putting people off coming into town. 

“There is a lot of antisocial behaviour. It’s affecting confidence. I think it’s the fact that social media has such an immediate effect. When something happens in town it’s on every WhatsApp group and social media platform. That’s a real challenge for us. 

"The name the city is getting is affecting business. Our night-time business has been impacted. People are going out earlier and coming back earlier, without a shadow of a doubt. 

"It’s not any worse at night than it is during the day. This is the same cohort of people we are dealing with who present the greatest issues. 

"People going out for a few drinks and getting a bit boisterous is not a problem for us. It’s addictions that are causing the problems. I don’t know if the facilities are there for people.” 

Customers being harassed by beggars is another issue. 

“We are faced with a mixture of professional beggars and people who are drug addicts. That’s where the single biggest impact for us is. 

It’s a situation where you have someone sitting on your doorstep with a cup asking every single person who comes into the shop for money. That’s not a nice experience for any customer. We have a constant job of asking people to stop every day.

President Elect of the Vintners Association of Ireland, Michael O’Donovan, agrees that concerns about antisocial behaviour are impacting the night-time economy in Cork City.

“The difficulties with the antisocial behaviour is that it’s turning people off coming into the city,” Mr O’Donovan said. “We are hearing a lot of negativity about people coming into Cork City. 

"This is despite the fact that incidents are very low in comparison to other cities. We are very lucky in that regard. We would obviously love to see a lot more gardaí on the streets. That would give people reassurances. Thankfully, the very serious incidents are very far and few between. 

"However, a lot of our business operate within the night-time economy and it’s important for us to feel that our customers are safe and they can get into our premises safely as well as make it home safely.” 

A recent motion tabled by Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan, who said there is an underlying atmosphere of uneasiness, aggression, and animosity in the city centre, called for: 

• An increase in the maximum sentence for threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place from three months imprisonment to one year;
• An increase in the maximum sentence for intoxication in a public place from a €500 fine to one year in jail;
• An increase in the maximum sentence for aggressive begging from one-month imprisonment to one year;
• The introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing for various public order offences where there has been repeat offending within a specified period.

However, former chair of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) — which has since been replaced by the Local Community Safety Partnership — Fine Gael Councillor Damian Boylan says there is a need for more day services to keep those predisposed to antisocial behaviour off the street.

“If you are living on the streets of Cork during the course of the day you have nowhere to go,” Mr Boylan said. “The whole idea is that services will be there and the help will be there. It will give people the chance to put their hands up and say I’m tired of existing like this.” 

But he agrees that a stronger Garda presence is needed.

“We need more gardaí. It’s as simple as that. The biggest thing we did when the JPC was still operating was try to get more gardaí for Cork but we were banging our heads off a brick wall."

Figures released earlier this year show Cork city has 61 fewer gardaí than two years ago, 24 fewer garda stations than a decade ago, and fewer police than the EU per capita average.

The analysis from Sinn Féin TDs Thomas Gould and Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire shows while the population of Cork has increased 12.5% between 2011 and 2022, there has actually been a large per capita decline in garda numbers, from 14,547 in 2009 to 12,799 by 2014, with figures from this February at 13,940.

That fall in garda numbers is noticeable on the streets of the city centre where there is a lack of visibility, according to the GRA.

“In theory you would have three Gardaí out on the beat in a given day. However, there are a number of factors that depend on this including people being out sick or the numbers in court that day. It’s extremely rare that Gardaí would have a day where none of these issues present themselves.

“At best you will have two but often times there will be no Gardaí available at all. It can be difficult as you have Gardaí who have to take time off due to physical abuse on the streets reducing the numbers again. Antisocial behaviour is very prevalent at the moment so this is very much an issue,” the representative said.