Antisocial behaviour driving people out of Cork city centre, says councillor

Antisocial behaviour in Cork City is happening in broad daylight and is driving people out of the city centre, a Fine Gael councillor has claimed.

Shane O’Callaghan, who is also a barrister, has lodged a motion on the issue for Monday’s full council meeting.

“I’ve been working in the city centre for years and I noticed things getting worse for about two years pre-covid, and continually since,” he said. 

“It’s the same few people all the time, and if they are arrested and brought before court they’re often back again the next day doing the same thing... I see at least one incident every day in broad daylight — it’s brazen, it shows they have no regard whatsoever for the law, and a huge part of that is that they are clearly aware there are little to no consequences.

The general election candidate for Cork South Central has proposed that Cork City Council write to Justice Minister Helen McEntee, calling on her to consider introducing measures “to tackle the anti-social behaviour and open drug use that is occurring on a daily basis on the streets of Cork”.

Manpower

These include the allocation of extra manpower, resources, and funding to gardaí in Cork, with the goal of ensuring there is an increased Garda presence on the streets of the city. 

His motion proposes increasing the maximum sentences for threatening, abusive, or insulting behaviour in a public place from three months to one year in prison, for intoxication in a public place from a €500 fine to one year’s jail, and for aggressive begging from one month to one year.

He also suggested the introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing for various public order offences where there has been repeat offending within a specified period.

“If they were to increase the maximum sentence for consistent reoffending, the word will get out there that this sort of behaviour is no longer being tolerated in the city centre or in towns,” he said.

“This wasn’t happening before, so why is it happening now?” he asked, saying that if a defendant pleads guilty to an offence which carries a one- month sentence, it is reduced to two weeks, and “in reality they’ll be out in a day if they even serve any time — there’s no deterrence”.

Intoxication

Public intoxication is often charged alongside threatening or abusive behaviour, suggesting it is a leading cause of more serious incidents, but, he said, “there’s no prison sentence at all for public intoxication; no matter how many times they do it they get a fine and lots of them just won’t pay the fine, so it’s almost no sentence at all”.

He said constituents tell him that they do not feel safe in the city centre any more, and this is having an impact on tourism and business.

“People are being driven away from town, and businesses are struggling because the perception is out there that the city centre is not safe,” he said. “Businesses that have been there for decades and do a great job providing a service and employment are being harmed.”