Report from the streets of Dublin city

dublin | crime and justice | news report Saturday May 07, 2005 16:59 by Paul Baynes

Another Friday night in our nation's capital

Last night I chanced to be upon O'Connell St. at about 2am. A young man was on the north side of O'Connell bridge. His orange T-shirt was torn so that the collar was wider than his shoulders. He was bruised and had a cut on his face. I believe he had a second facial injury.

The young man spoke to a Garda in my presence. He said that he had been assaulted or had been in a fight outside Boomerangs. The Garda radioed this information ahead but remained in the area as there were other incidents in progress. The young man went back towards Boomerangs.

There were many people passing by at this time. There were also several Gardaí around the place. Two more were walking down O'Connell St. to the bridge. I passed them on my way northwards, and spoke to a fourth Garda on Abbey St. I told him what I had seen, and he said he had received the radio message and knew about the violence.

I doubt that any of those Gardaí had a pleasant night. There were a lot of inebriated people around. People who have had a lot of alcohol to drink behave in pretty bizarre ways. The streets were filled with mayhem and madness.

As I walked home I came across several people - people who appeared not to be able to walk in a straight line, people shouting at each other, people sitting in the streets, and people throwing litter about them. They were young and old. They were male and female. It was an ugly scene.

Earlier in the week there were headlines in the papers saying that the Reclaim the Streets street party had been peaceful. http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69669
Somebody decided that this was newsworthy. Meanwhile, there is a huge demographic of people who get intoxicated every weekend. Violence is perpetrated. Accident and emergency services in hospitals, Gardaí, bouncers and publicans deal with all sorts of difficulties on a weekly basis. And yet, the mass media focus on the fact that the May Day Reclaim The Streets party was peaceful. The mind boggles.

Some less worthwhile Garda activities:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69694