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UNION REPRESENTATIVES HAVE called for action to safeguard Dublin City Council workers from physical assaults while they are on the job, following a recent attack on a caretaker in the North Inner City.
The assault occurred in the Ballybough area of the North Inner City on Thursday 9 January, where a 61-year-old council worker was attacked by a member of the public with an object.
Another council worker was at the scene and was able to stop the attacker, with SIPTU saying that it was a number of hours before gardaí had the manpower available to attend the scene.
The victim, who has worked with Dublin City Council for 28 years, was left injured with several cuts and bruises, and said he has been left “shaken” by the assault.
He currently works as a caretaker for flat complexes owned by Dublin City Council, and had been working at a flat complex in the area when the attack occurred.
“Most people do not realise the effects such attacks have on the employee and their families,” the victim, who chose to remain anonymous, said.
“It can change your entire personality, where you once viewed people in a friendly open manner, now you view them with suspicion and anxiety. It takes a long time to regain your confidence after such an incident.”
According to SIPTU, such attacks are becoming a “more frequent occurrence” for many of their members who work for the Dublin City Council, and they said it was not the first time that this man has suffered an assault.
A SIPTU spokesperson said that the victim, who previously served in the Defence Forces, had been left more shaken by the recent attack than “anything else in his life”.
SIPTU Organiser Jay Power said there has been a marked rise in assaults on members in recent times, with a spokesperson saying incidents of abuse, threats and assaults such as the incident in Ballybough last Thursday have become a ‘weekly occurrence’.
“We’re seeing shocking amounts of attacks on workers,” Power told The Journal.
“Not a week goes by when SIPTU are not being contacted by one of our members about attacks, and it’s across all sectors – roads, waste, housing, homeless services. Week after week, more SIPTU members have made contact about being attacked while at work,” Power added.
According to Power, SIPTU members working across a range of sectors in Dublin city are facing “uphill battles” due to increases in illicit drug use and drunken, anti-social behaviour across the city.
In a statement today, the SIPTU Dublin City Council committee condemned the “unwarranted attacks” on its members, Dublin City Council staff and other public servants.
“These cowardly attacks need to be addressed. Staff going about their daily job should not have to do so in fear,” the statement read.
SIPTU are proposing a “three-pronged approach” to Dublin City Council to deal with the attacks, wherein further resources are made available for Dublin City Council staffing levels, community resourcing for local initiatives and Garda staffing levels.
“We are highlighting the need for vigilance and proactive management responses to protect public sector, and wider services industries, workers who may be vulnerable to work-related assaults,” Power said.
“Dublin City Council workers supply essential services to residents of the city. Our members need to be able to go to work without fear, it is a shocking indictment of where we are as a society that workers are in fear just going to work.”
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Is it not time to stop the softly softly approach these thugs need to be dealt with harshly and swiftly.
A string of prior convictions and a sob story, seems to be the norm.
Running around out city with no fear of the consequences.
@Sea Spirit: Too high a concentration of scobes. Need to break that up, gentrify the place a bit. Costs too much to lock people up.
@Thesaltyurchin: While not locking them up has been such a rip roaring success.. it’s not a waste of money if it parasites off the streets.
@Thesaltyurchin: the judiciary l8ke the current status quo, it keeps them highly paid. That’s the unfortunate truth and a side effect is completely demotivated gardai.
@Dave G Doe: That might have been the end of your hero Trump if he hadn’t managed to get re-elected.
@Dave G Doe: exactly
@Dave G Doe: Can you be serious, you surely know that’s not an option
@Thesaltyurchin: I feel sorry for the staff and the garda. Imagine getting up to do a day’s work only to be assaulted by the dregs of society.
I do believe the comment below about the judicial system holds weight, the system is broken .
@North Dub: Sure it is, most offence’s are not major ones (murder, GBH, etc). Even with extended sentencing we would be paying double for the same in return, and a new cycle of scrotes follows right behind them, as well as sentencing and social welfare/large financial fines, where possible we could break it up at the source. The real problem outside of this argument is why, and really thats something that affects us all and we don’t seem to bothered to fix (housing, healthcare, transport, cost of living, etc).
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: the judiciary is a salaried role, they don’t get paid per case so your comment makes no sense.
” It was a number of hours before the Gardai had the manpower available to attend the scene “. Says it all really !
It’s about time that rather than individual’s calling for a Garda presence on our streets that SIPTU and the chamber of commerce started asking the same question of Garda management
@RIP: You mean the government?
What are you talking about?? Dublin is perfectly safe!
@Lei tatt: according to the justice minister
@Lei tatt: When did she say “Dublin is perfectly safe”?
@Ian: what a short memory you have,sir. It was last year , after a short walk with gards escorting on each side.
Don’t worry helen will sort it all out … but then again she comment on individual cases ..
@djdonohoe2000@yahoo.co.uk: helen can’t even sort herself out never mind dublin not up to the job
The aggression formented on social media since the pandemic, with the far-right attacking IPAS centres, homeless people, retail staff, library staff etc. has now become normalised sadly.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: precisely while being funded by american far right groups, stop the funding and you can start to adress the problem, wont happen though as FFG would prefer the public not to know what american cash is funding here legitimately or otherwise.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: These types of incidents have been going on a lot longer than social media or the rise of the far right. The perpetrators are normally kids/teenagers but the parents are never held responsible. Until such time there is an actual punishment for these actions, e.g. evicted from social housing and left to sort out their own housing, then the problem will get worse as, at this stage, it’s intergenerational.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: Please define ‘Far Right’.
@The next small thing: you want families evicted from social housing? and put where? i’m not sure that’s going to make for a better society overall
@Donna Fallon: she couldn’t define her forehead never mind the far right. Jacintha has been brainwashed god love her.
@eoin fitzpatrick: So let them continue with the free reign they have. Yes, I would evict, put the children into care and let the parents fend for themselves on the streets. What’s your solution to the rampant anti-social behaiour occurring in some social housing estates up and down the country? I’ll happily change my mind and my draconian solution if I hear a better solution.
@Donna Fallon: Typical markers are nativism, ultra-nationalism, radical conservatism and authoritarianism. Historical examples politically would be fascist regimes (Italy, Germany) or Falangist versions (Franco / Spain).
If you go to a bookshop or library you can find out more about the far-right, plenty of books on 21st century movements across the globe, or if you prefer, you can go to http://www.google.ie
@Jacintha Dumbrell: Would agree that’s part of it. Naive to think young people don’t live online and are completely unaffected by it, we know they are. But really the ingredients are omnipresent. Surely both sides of the imaginary social experiment game (right and left) want the same thing here? More police, Harsher sentencing, etc.
I live nearby. It’s funny how the local heroes of East Wall etc. were out blocking roads at the prospect of an IPAS centre opening there, but don’t seem to care about crime like this. Same with people’s houses and cars being smashed up in the area by kids throwing rocks and flying around on stolen motorbikes and scramblers. Not a peep from the heroes. It’s almost like they’re totally full of sh*t.
@eoin fitzpatrick: nobody wants an IPAS in their area. If it had women and children people might be happier, but it’s not. It’s always young single males
@Freda Peeple: the one in east wall is definitely not just males, and there have been no problems i’m aware of so far. the issues i outlined are caused by locals.
@eoin fitzpatrick: Ah ok, that’s good it’s a mix. There are villages around Ireland where hundreds of foreign men are causing misery for the locals. Fleeing war but leaving your female family members doesn’t wash with me or any other half intelligent person.
@Freda Peeple: It’s completely normal throughout history for men to leave first and try to gain employment and accommodation before their family join, it’s simply logical. That is how most communities began in the US for example, Chinese, Irish, Italian etc.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: This isn’t normal, we don’t require thousands of unqualified potential welfare drains, only 5% of asylum seekers in the Uk are net contributing to the country.
“… it is a shocking indictment of where we are as a society that workers are in fear just going to work.”
This bloody blame all society for the few is sickening. When the perpetrators are caught you’ll find dozens and dozens of previous convictions. That is not society’s fault. That’s the justice systems fault. And boy God do we pay some amount of taxes for that poxy service.
I blame the For Roight!
“it was a number of hours before Gardai had the manpower to attend the scene”
Therein lies a whole other story
Need to fast track that Super Prison that was promised on the Thornton Hall site over twenty years ago.
Previous government’s have spent over
55 million euros on the site including the original price and maintenance and not a brick has been layed on it.
Some might just take this matter in their own hands and resolve this with a hurley and a balaclava.
Wakey wakey Helen McEntee
Your so called government has lost control of DUBLIN altogether it’s do what you like now when you like what we need now is a special armed 24 team in place all over DUBLIN any messing and you get shot who running the show hear it’s definitely not the government
Beautiful part of dirty Dublin….
Often it’s a problem that’s caused by mental health issues. Vulnerable people are left on their own, only visited by their carers, who are stressed out and have no time for chats etc. If there is a crisis, there are no places or services available. Threatening or blaming carers for theft, etc, happened almost weekly. People are on waitinglists sincee years.
These problems escalated while and since lockdown in the pandemic. I think by far not enough happenes to address this.
When are they going to start actually policing Dublin.
It’s a free for all for every thug and miscreant.
An awful place.
We are own worst enemies voting back in this shower ie McEntee and co. Suck it up now
@Éanna o Sca: true , why would they even care if they are being voted in, over and over no matter what.
” It was a number of hours before Gardaí had the manpower available to attend the scene.”
Enough said.
Coolock Says No.
Where in the ballybough area.. I live there and heard nothing about it. Was it on the ballybough road or summerhill parade or popular road. It’s important to the people who live there. Lazy journalism.
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